Fighting For Lies
by His Most Loyal
Summary: Naruto is sent to Konoha against his will to act as a spy. But the deeper he digs to uncover the secrets of Konoha, the more mysteries he discovers. Some pertain to his legendary bloodline while others deal with his broken family. Semi-dark Naruto.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing related to the Naruto universe.

Prologue

Namikaze Naruto sat on a high tree branch and stared absentmindedly at the unnaturally dark night sky. The clouds were particularly annoying, as they blocked out the moon and the stars making it incredibly difficult to see much of anything. It was going to rain soon.

A chilly wind hit him right in the face, sending him into a small fit of shivers and also blowing the hood of his cloak off his head.

A full head of long and untamed blonde hair as well as three whisker mark scars on each side of his face came into view. The boy's azure eyes narrowed in annoyance as he pulled the hood back over his head.

In the distance he could make out the faint lights coming from Konoha, and his anger for the village nearly made him break out of his sulking.

'_Why can't they realize that it's all a lost cause?'_

He had gotten tired of living in his annoying clan house and decided that it would be best if he went out for a short walk in the nearby forest. Said walk ended up turning into a run that brought him within a mile of the strongest shinobi village in the world. And now, he found himself sitting deep in enemy territory. Chances were he'd be killed if a Konoha ninja managed to apprehend him.

For a few seconds he wondered if he'd rather live in Konoha than with rebels. According to his family, Konoha was once a beautiful village when it was ruled by the Sandaime. It was still beautiful, but now it had an undertone of..._darkness_ around it ever since Danzou became the Hokage. His godfather told him that everything slowly changed for the worse once Danzou took over. The people became vicious; the shinobi were brainwashed and became ruthless; the laws became intolerable.

He put his thoughts aside and took one last look at the night sky. He knew that he should be leaving soon unless he wanted to get caught by the ANBU- or his own villagers for that matter.

He looked down from the branch that he was sitting on. He couldn't see the bottom, no matter how hard he squinted. A smile played itself onto his lips as he started adding chakra to his feet.

Without thinking, he pushed of the branch and went flying through the air. His cloak billowed behind him as he picked up more and more speed. The cool air hit his face sending a jolt through him and throwing away all traces of drowsiness that were trying to sneak up on him.

He landed in a crouched position and winced from the pain that ran through his body. Not even chakra could have fully protected him from the force of the impact. Naruto sent a glare at the tree. '_So much for making a cool exit._' Good thing that no one was there to see him…

He froze.

There were people nearby, and they were circling around him. He couldn't see them, but he could distinctly feel them.

Was his luck really that bad?

He tilted forward slightly to get into a more comfortable position and put his hands on either side of him. He could feel the foreign ninja getting closer, their arrangement faultless and their movements impossibly quiet. He had to move before he was trapped. He would never be able to win against all three of them.

He pushed off the ground with his feet and sprinted into the darkness, managing to get some distance between his enemies. He was lucky enough to have gotten through an opening in their guard, but otherwise he knew that that was the only advantage that he had.

He ran past the thick trunks of the aged trees, twisting and turning in random directions, hoping to lose the people that were hot on his heels. Naruto scolded himself in his mind. He should have kept a tighter watch on his surroundings. He was so close to Konoha- _of course_ there would be patrols nearby. He was an idiot for not realizing that earlier.

The annoyingly familiar sound of steel cutting through air brought Naruto back into reality and forced him to all but dive to his left. A kunai whizzed past him, just barely grazing his cheek. Naruto's eyes narrowed as he picked up his pace and ran even faster than before.

He muttered a string of curses under his breath. He seriously needed to pay more attention to his surroundings. At some point during the chase, Naruto found himself jumping from branch to branch. He barely managed to keep his balance, but he managed to move just a little bit faster.

He needed some sort of plan, something to get those guys distracted with, if only for a little while. Unfortunately for him, it was difficult to even think while knowing that he had a team of enemy shinobi on his tail.

Naruto dared to take a look at his pursuers. One small glance later, and he was running faster than he'd ever ran in his life.

Three ninja in jet-black cloaks were speeding towards Naruto. But that wasn't what freaked him out- it was the white masks with various animal faces that did...

ANBU.

'_This just isn't my day.'_

Naruto took a sharp right turn where the trees seemed particularly crowded, in hopes of throwing his pursuers off. It didn't work, and he just ended up losing some of the precious distance between him and them.

He was started growing desperate and frustrated. There were ways that he could have escaped this ANBU team and disappeared into the darkness of night, never being seen by a single pair of eyes…But that would mean that he would have to rely heavily on his bloodline. He tended to not use it in front of anyone other than his family. '_And if Osamu ever found out…' _Naruto ruthlessly sent those thoughts to the back of his mind. Those were the last things that should be on his mind!

His legs were starting to hurt from the overexertion; it wasn't often that he ran around an entire forest at full speed, now was it? Actually, the chase was sort of turning into a pattern. Right turn, left turn, right turn…well you get the idea. Don't forget about the occasional kunai or jutsu being shot. Naruto decided to add some spice into the chase and tried something new.

He put his hands into a seal that was taught to him by his godfather and whispered, "Kage Bushin." Nine solid clones appeared on either side of him, and Naruto performed a Kawarimi with one of them. Then, he ordered the clones to split up and run in different directions. That should buy him some time.

Naruto looked around and saw that two of the ANBU members started chasing his clones. It seemed that they had started using lethal techniques because he felt a small portion of the chakra that he used to make the clones returning to him. One of the clones just died.

But something was off. It took a moment for Naruto to realize it, but when he did, his heart skipped a beat.

The third ANBU member…He was gone.

Naruto forced himself to calm down and to think straight. Why could the ANBU have left? The first reason that Naruto came up with was that the ninja split from the group before the blonde used Kage Bushin, in hopes of ambushing him. For some reason, Naruto had trouble believing that.

The second reason seemed much more likely, and Naruto felt the familiar emotion of fear that he tried to suppress come back at full force.

The ANBU member must have gone for reinforcements.

The panic was making him reckless. At first he wanted to make a dead-sprint towards safety, but then he realized that it would be a surefire way to get him and the people in his village caught.

He didn't know how many ANBU teams, if any, would come. What he had to do was create a diversion large enough to distract three ANBU level ninja, for a short time at least, while he escaped to safety. He needed something big, loud, and explosive if he wanted to lose his pursuers. Naruto's eyes narrowed mischievously as he began to plot…

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The plan that Naruto came up with was risky; some might have even called it idiotic. But unfortunately, his mind wasn't working at one-hundred percent when he created his three special clones. Bakuretsu Kage Bushin was the name of the jutsu. Its purpose was simple- as soon as he ordered, the clones would explode. Naruto packed as much chakra into the clones as he possibly could without losing control, and with him having near limitless reserves, that was a lot. It was a tedious process and he was left exhausted when he was done.

The blonde tried his best to ignore the beginning symptoms of what he thought was chakra exhaustion. With what little energy he had left, he sent the clones in the same general direction. If he remembered correctly, then there was a checkpoint area for ANBU teams somewhere in the area. He hoped that his clones could find it in time.

Naruto's plan was simple; it would have been troublesome if it was complicated. His clones would get as far away from his position as they possibly could. One would go east and two more would go west and try to find the checkpoint. Once it was found, the clones would all meet up, and they would explode, causing citizens and shinobi alike to believe that their homeland was being attacked.

Naruto wasn't too far away from Konoha, but he wasn't exactly close either. However, he knew for sure that the explosion that would come would be _big_. It would be enough to alert the shinobi in Konoha, at the very least. The shinobi would be busy either investigating the explosion, or preparing for what they would believe was an incoming fight. If all went well, then everyone would just forget that he even existed.

Naruto closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Under no circumstances could he be recognized. Members of the Namikaze clan all had golden blonde hair and striking blue eyes. Naruto was pretty sure that the Namikaze were one of the only clans in the shinobi world that exhibited such traits. The Namikaze clan was at one time renowned in Konoha as one of the village's greatest clans. Unfortunately, Konoha also believed that the Namikaze clan was totally wiped out, with the final member being his father, Minato. If Naruto was discovered, it would lead to a whole set of unpleasant circumstances.

It was with that knowledge that he prepared himself to begin the plan. He could feel that seven of his Kage Bushin were already destroyed; only two remained. Nevertheless, they had fulfilled their purpose in distracting the ANBU members, if only for a short amount of time. It was quite the useful jutsu.

Naruto landed in a particularly dark and unruly part of the forest and leaned against a thick tree. What he was about to do next required some concentration. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to soothe his raging emotions.

When he was ready, he tried to feel the chakra that was running through his body. It wasn't hard, as he had been forced to do this exercise countless times.

His chakra felt like a beating heart. In fact, it beat alongside his. His godfather once pointed out that everyone felt their chakra differently; some people might have seen it in a corporal form, while others may have felt it in the form of an element that they had an affinity towards. It was a different experience for everyone.

Naruto focused even harder on the beating sound, until he could finally see a ball of light blue energy. He was deep in his subconscious; this was the center of his chakra system. The concept was a tad complicated to explain as he had never cared much about the theory side.

As he looked closer at the shining blue ball, which was about the size of his fist, he saw three nearly transparent silver-blue strings coming out from it and extending into the nothingness that surrounded him. That was his connection to the three Bakuretsu Bushin. Naruto frowned when he noticed that the connection to his final two Kage Bushin was destroyed. This had to be quick.

Naruto softly grabbed the first string and his eyesight immediately blurred, instead making him see through the eyes of Bakuretsu Bushin number one.

The clone had apparently found the checkpoint. The entire place was surrounded by barricades that were at least as high as Naruto was tall. A small, wooden shack stood at one corner, and the rest of the area was filled with large campfires. Naruto could see through the clone's eyes that the security was _incredibly _tight. He could just barely make out five Jounin guards walking around, patrolling the area in and around the barricades.

Everything depended on how the whole thing was played out. As soon as the clone was right by the barricades, Naruto sent a mental command for it to explode in thirty seconds. He quickly grabbed hold of the other two strings, and upon finding that the clones were also near the checkpoint, ordered them to do the same.

Naruto snapped himself out of the trance and stood as quietly as he possibly could next to the tree that he had just leaned against. Soon after, he heard an explosion, closely followed by two more.

And then, there was silence.

There was absolutely nothing there worth noting. Naruto heard no more noise, and there were no chakra signatures that he could sense. He waited a little bit longer for some other reaction, but nothing came. He was sure that at least a couple squads of ANBU would go to investigate the explosions, but no. He felt no one's chakra signature moving towards the checkpoint.

Naruto slowly walked out from behind the tree that he was leaning against, and listened to whether or not there were any screams or shouts coming from around the village. Silence was all there was. He brought his head up to take a quick glance around the forest, but he couldn't see far in the darkness. He was alone, and that created a new sort of fear inside him.

What the hell was going on?!

He started running again, only this time on the ground, not over branches. One or more teams of ANBU could have been searching for him, and he wasn't sure whether or not they were affected by the explosion. But this time, he had the advantage- they didn't know where he was. If they wanted to capture him, they would have to look for him first.

Naruto sped through the forest, weaving around the trees as if he had been trained to do so his entire life. He avoided any clearings where he thought there might be activity. He used a minimal amount of chakra so as to not alert anyone. He ran faster than he had ever run in his life. He was free, and no one could catch him.

He was nothing more than a blur.

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HIs arrogance turned into his downfall. When he was almost a mile away from the safety of his village, he let go of the viscous reign that he had on his chakra and let it flow freely through his body. The concentration that it took to suppress it was unimaginable. It was the price that he had to pay for having such large reserves.

He also started running faster. It felt like he had an enormous weight lifted off his shoulders when he felt his chakra returning. He ended up making just a little bit more noise.

Only when Naruto felt a sharp, stinging pain in his left shoulder did he realize his mistakes. His eyes widened marginally before he turned around, desperately searching for his attacker.

All he saw was darkness.

Naruto added some chakra into his legs and jumped onto a high tree branch. Quickly but carefully, he took out the kunai that was lodged in his shoulder. It stung like hell, but the adrenaline running through him made him forget about the pain. All the while, his eyes searched the ground for any sign of movement.

The sound of soft, barely audible footsteps snapped Naruto back into reality. He dove to the right, falling off the tree branch, yet narrowly dodging the sharp, steel blade of a katana.

As he was falling through the air, he forced his body to turn, hoping to at least to catch a small glimpse of his attacker.

An animal mask was all that Naruto could make out before his thoughts were overrun with anger. He rapidly ran through a set of hand-seals and gathered chakra into his lungs.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu."

An enormous fireball shot out of Naruto's mouth, incinerating everything that it touched and spreading heat into the otherwise chilly night. But by the time it hit the branch that the ANBU stood on, it was too late. The ANBU member was already gone.

Naruto performed a Kawarimi and substituted himself with a broken branch, just barely avoiding smashing into the ground. What was he supposed to do next? It was dark and he was having trouble seeing. The ANBU member, on the other hand, seemed to know exactly what he was doing. It looked like he was used to working in the dark.

The true weight of the situation just hit Naruto. His heart started beating even faster than before and a sense of hopelessness awoke inside of him. He couldn't keep up with this ninja…

'_I could be killed…'_

Or even worse, he would be caught and tortured- tortured to the point of insanity, but never past it. He would be denied that wonderful bliss where pain meant nothing. No. Instead they would heal him, nurse him back to health, just too slowly break him up again. The ninja of Konohagakure no Sato were ruthless. They would do anything to get the information they needed. That was what Naruto had been taught his entire life. He had grown up hating yet fearing this village at the same time.

He was broken out of his thoughts when he felt a hard, steel blade rest on his neck. The only thing separating it from Naruto's delicate skin was the thin fabric of the dark cloak that he was wearing.

"Don't move," whispered a soft, monotonous voice.

Naruto's eyes widened more from surprise than horror. His mind started racing through ideas, strategies, and jutsu- anything that could get him out of this situation. But nothing came up. His teachers always told him that if an enemy had a blade rested on his neck, then he would be dead in the next couple of seconds.

'_Does that mean that I'm lucky to be alive?'_

The ANBU member held the katana in one hand, and used the other to pull off the hood of Naruto's cloak. He was met with the sight of Naruto's spiky, blonde hair. Naruto was sure that the shinobi was surprised because as soon as the blonde's hair came out from under the cover of the hood, the ANBU grabbed him with his free hand and roughly turned him around. The ANBU was met with Naruto's blue eyes staring straight back at him.

As if in slow motion, Naruto saw the ANBU's body tense, and the grip that the masked shinobi had on him was released. The ANBU took a step back, shaking slightly.

"Namikaze-sama!" he exclaimed as if he had just seen a ghost.

It was through instinct alone that Naruto reached for a kunai, and with speed that he never knew he had, threw it at the stunned ANBU. Naruto aimed for the chest but at the very last second the ANBU jumped, and the kunai hit him in the stomach instead. Again he disappeared into the night, but this time he wouldn't be hard to find.

Naruto took out another kunai and added some chakra into his ears so that he could hear better. It was not long after that that he heard someone's raspy breathing, followed by the occasional cough. Naruto had hit him hard.

Naruto followed the sound until he came across his enemy leaning against a large tree, his head down, with one arm holding his bloody stomach, and the other searching for something in his ninja pouch.

Naruto didn't think about what he did next; he was too scared. He held his kunai up high and dashed towards the injured shinobi. The ANBU must have heard Naruto's footsteps because he raised his head, and Naruto got a full view of his mask.

It was a picture of a cat- at least that's what Naruto thought. There were dark markings near the edges, along with three thin, horizontal lines on both sides of the mask. The area around the slits of the mask was painted in a dark green color.

Naruto concentrated on the mask. It felt much easier to kill a simple animal rather than a human being.

As the blonde reached him, the ANBU unsheathed his katana and both ninja exchanged blows. The ANBU's moves were slow, and his style was sluggish. Naruto was relieved that he wouldn't have to do anything fancy; he was pretty sure that his reserves were damn near empty. The previous fire jutsu made him use up most of the chakra that was restored during his run through the forest.

The ANBU's strikes were slowing down after each move he made. As soon as Naruto noticed this he swiftly struck the shinobi's wrist with the blunt end of his kunai. The katana fell with a soft clank and the ANBU was left defenseless.

Naruto's hand trembled when he thought about what he would have to do next. By now the ANBU was barely standing and looked to be only half-conscious. He couldn't do this with a kunai- it would be too messy for him to handle. Instead, Naruto picked up the katana that lay on the ground and pointed it at the ANBU's chest. He closed his eyes tightly and pushed his arms forward…

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There was no struggle in the end. There were no screams, no resistance, not even any fear on the ANBU's part. For all Naruto knew, the shinobi welcomed his death with happiness.

Naruto looked on at the lifeless body lying in front of him and felt bitterness.

It was pathetic. The way that ANBU died, the surprise that he felt when he figured out Naruto's identity, the way that Naruto took advantage of that situation. It was all pathetic.

Was that it? He had just killed a person, a person that seemed to respect his clan. Why was it that he only felt bitter inside? Naruto had just won a battle by using the lowest form of deceit. Was that what the 'glorious' life of a shinobi was like?

But another voice, a much colder one told him that what he did was necessary. If he hadn't killed the ninja, then the ANBU would have captured him.

Naruto shook his head to get those thoughts out of his head. He was tired and scared. He didn't need anything else bothering him.

Naruto took one last look at the fallen warrior before he started forming hand-seals. He closed his eyes and prayed to Kami-sama that he had enough chakra left for this one last jutsu.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu," Naruto whispered again, all the while gathering every last bit of chakra that he could find in his body.

The result was a fireball, smaller than the boy had envisioned, but still large enough to do its job. The fire hit the body dead-on, and for the next minute Naruto watched the body burn. Not once did he even think about taking off that mask.

Soon it was all finished, but Naruto still stood in the same exact place. Only then did he notice the soft, peaceful rain that had begun to fall.

The rain started to gradually get stronger as he stood in the same exact spot for nearly half an hour. He knew that he should have been running, but he just couldn't bring himself to care.

Naruto raised his head to feel the rain hit his face. It was relaxing and did wonders to relieving his stress

He brought his eyes to the charred remains of the body, only to see that they were slowly being decimated by the rain. All that was left was the katana and a few spare kunai that must have been hidden somewhere on the ANBU's person.

Naruto picked up all of the weapons and started to dig a hole with his bare hands. The ground was soft from the constant downpour of rain, but Naruto's mind didn't register that. His body was moving on its own accord.

When he finished digging the hole, he carefully placed the ANBU's weapons inside. Naruto stared at them for a short while before he started to refill the hole.

Time sped by without him noticing. He didn't know what was happening around him, nor could he hear or smell anything but the rain. Everything that he saw seemed to blend into one color. It was like his mind had left him, and he had to figure out what to do without it.

But there was one thought that it had left behind as a souvenir.

'_Home.'_

So that was where he went.

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_**AN: **_I edited this chapter so that it is now in 3rd person instead of 1st. Excuse any of the 1st person references that you see here because I probably missed them when I was revising. I'll probably fix the errors at a later date. Enjoy!

_**All Reviews are greatly appreciated.**_


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1-

Naruto woke up as he did every other morning, with the only difference being that his head felt like it was about to explode.

"_Probably shouldn't have over exhausted myself last night," _Narutothought. But with a scowl he quickly squashed those thoughts. A headache was nothing that the young ninja couldn't handle. Ignoring the pain, Naruto got up and walked to his bathroom to shower and get a change of clothes. Before long he set out to go and eat breakfast.

The house that Naruto lived in was enormous, currently housing at least 60 people. It was the residence to the three major clans that were against Danzou- the Hyuuga, the Sarutobi, and the Fuuma. It was also home to the Namikaze, who more or less started the entire rebellion, albeit secretly.

The mansion was located in a village called Tsuirakuha. The village was, of course, controlled by the rebels (who preferred to be called the 'Shinninha').

Tsuirakuha wasn't located very far from Konoha and therefore was on fairly good terms with the hidden village. Tsuirakuha was large enough to have its own ninja, but was also small enough to not draw any unwanted attention. The village's main exports were ninja tools, specifically weapons. It never suffered from economic troubles, because weapons were, after all, quite the popular export. Every ninja needed them, and being so near to a hidden village only helped the prosperous village.

It was a believable background, but Naruto knew that it was all bullshit.

For one, village's main source of income was actually an "under-the-counter" sort of business.

Tsuirakuha was the go to place for anyone who wanted missions done "in the dark", so to speak. The Shinninha took any missions that they were offered, so long as the missions didn't compromise their position or future goals. Tsuirakuha definitely didn't have as much ninja as Konoha, but the few hundred or so ninja that it did have were suffice to complete the given missions. Plus, having the ninja of three powerful clans at its disposal only served to help the village. This business not only gave the village a second source of income, but it also ended up giving the ninja in the village valuable experience.

But if the village was so rich, then why couldn't each clan get their own clan house? Naruto couldn't figure that out for the life of him. Whenever Naruto asked his grandfather, the old man's only answer was that the Shinninha didn't want to draw any extra attention to themselves. Naruto had heard of smaller villages that had buildings the sizes of castles. Seeing how scarce Shikkyakuha currently was, Naruto thought that the opposite was happening; attention was being draw because of how _poor_ the village looked.

Naruto's home, in his honest opinion, was a complete shit hole. Actually, the house wasn't so much of a home as it was a shelter. Basically, it held the remainder of the members of the once great clans, known as the Sarutobi, Hyuuga, and Fuuma.

Basically, the whole village of Tsuirakuha was designed to hold anyone who was against Danzou in the "civil war" that had plagued Konoha for over ten years.

Calling the uprising a civil war was definitely exaggeration. One hundred shinobi going against an entire hidden village couldn't really be considered a war; maybe a massive suicide attempt instead. Besides, if anything, it was just a one-sided conflict. Konoha didn't even know that the Shinninha existed. The majority of people in Tsuirakuha separated from Konoha during the Kyuubi attack. The people that left Konoha were presumed to be dead. It wasn't uncommon to see whole clans destroyed either. The attack was so brutal that people barely bothered to search for the missing bodies of the "dead". Of course, for the escapees that was the perfect cover-up.

So instead of taking a violent stance against Konoha, the Shinninha instead chose to work in the shadows. Spies were sent often and information gathering missions weren't uncommon at all. The occasional kidnappings and assassinations also occurred from time to time. But because of the small amount of people against Danzou, nothing more could be done. The few people who hated Danzou but still lived in Konoha followed him more out of fear than anything else.

But the people who lived in Naruto's "home" weren't exactly saints either. No one there was above murdering their enemy, or torture, or teaching children how to kill. But Naruto wasn't about to speak against anyone. According to his grandfather, Namikaze Osamu, such actions were all common in the time of war.

Besides, Naruto couldn't disagree that some of the training that he received from the Shinninha helped him out. The training even helped him deal with yesterday's murder. Sure Naruto still felt like shit, but at last he didn't have those annoying feelings of guilt and bitterness nagging at him. So did that mean that his side wasn't really all that terrible?

"…_It's _way_ too early for me to be thinking philosophy."_

Naruto entered the cafeteria, got some food, and sat at a random table. The cafeteria was fairly large, as was every other room in the house. There were 13 circular tables, most of which were sparsely occupied. Most of the adults tended to eat breakfast earlier, so the only people there were mainly the children. Naruto caught a few glimpses of kids from the Fuuma, Sarutobi, and Hyuuga clans sitting in small groups, huddled up and talking with each other. Naruto didn't know them, and they didn't know Naruto. It was a mutual hatred. Naruto didn't want to know them because of their "high-and-mighty" attitude. They didn't want to know Naruto because he was part of a "lesser" clan, but still lived in the giant clan house.

Despite being on the same side of a war, rivalries ran strong between the three strongest clans that resided in Tsuirakuha. Ever heard the saying 'power corrupts'? Well that was the case here. Apparently since everyone was forced to rely on the powers of those clans, the clans had gotten quite comfortable in their position; comfortable to the point that they bossed people around, and thought of themselves better than others.

But as a Namikaze clan member, Naruto knew that his clan couldn't be taken lightly. The Namikaze clan had plenty of memorable members in the past few generations, including the legendary "Yellow Flash" and the leader of the resistance, Namikaze Osamu. What kept the Namikaze clan from becoming a major clan was their numbers. Events such as the Third Ninja War and the Kyuubi attack had gotten a countless number of clan members killed. As a result, there were less than five Namikaze members left.

While finishing his breakfast, Naruto thought about what his schedule for the day was.

"_Today is Wednesday so I have to…go find my uncle for training."_

And with that, the blonde haired ninja half walked, half ran towards his training room.

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"Sensei!" Naruto shouted as he walked into the spacious training ground reserved for the Namikaze clan. There was no response, which immediately made Naruto bring his hand towards his kunai pouch. He absolutely _hated _it when his sensei did this. No waving his hand, no small smile, just going straight to training. It meant that the man was in a bad mood.

Upon hearing a soft noise to his right, Naruto immediately took out a kunai and threw it in that direction. The kunai traveled through the air until it hit the ground and skidded to a stop.

"_Well…I know that I heard a noise, so someone is definitely there. At least I know that I'm not making a fool of myself."_

Slowly and carefully, the young ninja started to walk towards the middle of the training ground, making as little noise as he could. Once there, Naruto added some chakra into his ears, and listened carefully for any sign of his sensei. It was only a few seconds later that he heard the soft ruffling of clothes. To the left! Whipping around, Naruto's hands were already in the process of making seals, and he was about to raise hell on the person that decided to mess with his head.

But when Naruto caught sight of his teacher forming hand-seals at least twice as fast as he was, the twelve year old knew that he was screwed. Namikaze Akio stood about twenty feet away from Naruto. He was somewhere around six feet tall, with pale blonde hair up to his shoulders, and the traditional blue eyes of the Namikaze clan. He wore a plain white cloak with the only markings on it being two Yin and Yang symbols on the end of each sleeve. If a person looked close enough, they would also be able to see the slender hilt of a sword extending from under the cover of the cloak.

Naruto couldn't figure out why he was so surprised; it's not like he wasn't expecting the guy anyway.

Finally finishing the hand seals, Naruto inhaled a large amount of air and whispered, "Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu." He finished just a half-second later then his sensei.

A fairly large fireball shot out of Naruto's mouth, and sped towards Akio. But as the fireball was just about to hit his sensei, Naruto noticed something strange. Why hadn't Akio-sensei moved yet?

Just as the fireball was just about to hit Akio, he carelessly raised his right arm to face the fireball and casually swung his hand to the right. A freezing wind appeared from the left and literally _slammed_ into the fire jutsu. The ball of fire looked as if it was being broken down and eaten up. Over the next few seconds a fireball large enough to decimate a small house became nothing more than hot air, and even that was slowly being overtaken by the icy wind.

The young blonde couldn't help but be astonished. The power of that technique was incredible! The control, the chakra, and the _finesse _needed for a jutsu like that were all beyond Naruto's skill. He turned to see his sensei's reaction to this, only to find that Akio was gone.

"_Damn it! He's going to torture me for getting distracted like that!"_

Naruto added some chakra into his ears, hoping to find his sensei again. Unfortunately, all that he heard was total silence.

If he couldn't hear, smell, or see a ninja, then he had to look for something more subtle- a genjutsu for instance. Putting his hands in the ram seal, Naruto closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and gathered a small amount of chakra. When he gathered enough he let it loose. Invisible to the normal eye, the chakra swiftly expanded to envelop the entire training ground.

It was a simple technique used to determine whether there was a genjutsu. The basic theory of the technique was that if nothing was in the way, then the chakra would flow smoothly and without disturbance. When a genjutsu was used, a constant flow of chakra was used to distort the surroundings. When the chakra of the user hit the chakra used for the genjutsu (if there even was one at all), it would meet resistance, and would instead surround the area of the genjutsu. That would give Naruto a clear idea of where his sensei was hiding. Unfortunately though, the little trick only worked on the simpler genjutsu. The stronger, more potent genjutsu were even more subtle and therefore let off a smaller amount of excess chakra.

Seconds passed as the chakra spread throughout the entire training ground, and true enough, Naruto soon felt a small gap forming. But before he could even start doing hand-seals for a jutsu or even take out a kunai, the genjutsu was dropped and Akio started running straight at him. Just as Akio was about to reach Naruto, he flicked his wrist, and seemingly out of nowhere a kunai appeared. Naruto had his own kunai out in a flash when Akio-sensei was just a few feet away from him.

But just as the older shinobi was about to strike, he disappeared. It looked as if he simply _blurred_ out of existence; kind of like a simple bushin did when it was dispelled. But that definitely wasn't a bushin. Naruto could easily see through a plain bushin. Besides bushin didn't leave behind a gust…of…wind…

Something clicked, as Naruto figured out what his sensei just did. It was called _"Musei Kaze"_, a wind jutsu that could only be used by members of the Namikaze clan. The user tapped into their reserve of Yin chakra and surrounded their entire body with it. After that the person would have to form some hand seals, before their body literary turned into wind. From there they could easily maneuver wherever they wanted to go, given that the person had enough Yin chakra available. When the user reached his destination, he could easily transform back into his normal body by ceasing to channel Yin chakra. The jutsu was perfect for assassination missions. It was also one of Naruto's favorite jutsu. The downside of it, though, was the time that it took to prepare everything. Another disadvantage was that a skilled ninja would be able to detect the jutsu by sensing the user's chakra signature and possibly by smelling the user's odor which was carried with the wind.

"_That must have been the reason that sensei was behind that weak genjutsu. It wasted little chakra, and it bought him time."_

Naruto brought his hands in the Kage Bushin seal, and did the only thing that he could do in this type of situation- he tried creating more copies of himself. If Akio snuck up on one clone, Naruto would know, and Akio's position would be given up. But before Naruto could so much as open his mouth, he felt a cold kunai press against his neck. Slowly turning his head, Naruto met the bored stare of his uncle.

"_Oh, I'll make sure to wipe that look off his face,"_ Naruto thought.

"Sensei, you know I always create some extra clones before I fight," Naruto stated with a smirk on his face. Akio's eyes widened marginally as he registered Naruto's words. He tried jumping back, but it was already too late. The Bakuretsu Bushin that Naruto used Kawarimi on grabbed his arm, and it wouldn't let go.

"_Explode."_

Before long, there was a giant crater in the once flat training ground. Fortunately, there was no blood or body in sight. It would have been quite embarrassing having one of the clans' best members killed by a 12 year old kid.

Naruto turned his head to the side to see Akio brushing what looked like dirt off of his cloak. His ego did a back flip, to say the least. That was one of the few times that Naruto actually managed to trick his sensei. Naruto felt like shouting something, but then remembered what happened the last time he talked in more than a whisper.

The psychotic fucker that he called his sensei literally started choking him.

Regretting the fact that he couldn't mock his sensei with words, Naruto chose to smirk in the man's direction instead. Seeing the smirk, Akio sent back one of his own before getting into a taijutsu stance. Naruto followed suit and mimicked the stance.

Today was one of those "random" training days. On most days Akio focused on teaching one specific aspect, whether it was taijutsu ninjutsu, or genjutsu. On days like today, a "mock" battle would ensure so that Akio could gauge Naruto's skill level as a whole. From there Akio would break down Naruto's style, pointing out his mistakes and ways to improve them.

This, of course, only served to infuriate Naruto. After all, who liked other people pointing out their flaws? But after a few broken bones, the loss of some blood, and a quite a lot of cursing, the lessons become particularly clear for the younger blonde.

Naruto snapped out of his thoughts and saw that his sensei hadn't moved a single inch. Knowing that he didn't have the patience to wait the older shinobi out, Naruto decided to make the first move. He charged towards the motionless man with an impressive speed, and aimed an open palm strike at his left shoulder. Before the hit made contact, Akio brought his left hand up and pushed the hand out of the way. Catching Naruto off balance, he found an opening and threw a strike right at Naruto's ribs.

Gripping his injured side, Naruto glared daggers at his uncle. For his part, the older blonde threw a casual smirk in Naruto's direction.

Naruto growled as he stood up and started to fight with renewed vigor. Naruto started by trying to hit his sensei in the stomach with another open-palm attack. For his part, Akio side stepped to the right, only to have Naruto's foot hit him in the back of his leg. Akio lost his balance, giving Naruto the perfect opening to hit him in the chest. Unfortunately, when the attack connected the body started to dissolve into mud.

"_Mud clone." _

Naruto heard footsteps behind him, and managed to turn around just in time to be hit in the right shoulder. Naruto followed the flow of the attack in order to gain some momentum, before stepping forward and driving an elbow into his sensei's throat. Akio stepped back a few steps while Naruto continued his onslaught. Before long there was a 'poof' of smoke, and the Kage Bushin that Naruto was fighting disappeared.

Under the cover of the smoke emitted from the destroyed Kage Bushin, a pair of hands erupted from the ground and grabbed Naruto's legs. Before he could even understand what was happening, Naruto was pulled underground so that only his head was visible, and his sensei appeared right in front of him.

"Why the hell did you do that? I was just getting started!" screamed the infuriated young ninja.

The older blonde shook his head at Naruto's behavior. Akio waited until Naruto calmed down before he opened his mouth and moved his lips, as if he was talking, but no sound came out.

"_Osamu-sama wishes to speak with you Naruto-kun."_

All signs of resistance immediately left Naruto's face as he read his uncle's lips. "What?" Naruto asked, not sure if he had understood correctly.

Akio shrugged his soldiers before moving his lips again. _"Maybe it's nothing. Perhaps he just wants to talk to you? Besides, it's not like you've done anything bad- as in worse than usual?" _Akio finished by throwing a knowing glance at Naruto.

An easy-going smile crept onto Naruto's face as he shook his head in a 'no' gesture.

"_Well then, you shouldn't have anything to worry about. Here, let me help you out."_

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Akio and Naruto walked out of the training ground and were walking towards Osamu-sama's office. They were currently "talking" about their little mock battle.

"_Your taijutsu was good, Naruto. You displayed a fair amount of speed and an adequate understanding of the Namikaze style. Do try to leave less openings though. It was terrifyingly easy to get past you and land a hit on your ribs."_

"_Your use of ninjutsu was only limited to three jutsu-Katon: Goukakyuu, Kage bushin, and Bakuretsu bushin. I honestly don't understand why you waste your chakra on those jutsu when you could make a deadly wind jutsu using half the chakra. By the way, who taught you that fire jutsu? "_

"Well," started Naruto, "Since you thought it necessary to cram every wind jutsu that you knew into my arsenal after finding out that wind was my affinity, I started looking for a teacher who would actually teach me more diverse jutsu. "

Akio looked scandalized. _"You think that my teaching skills are inadequate enough that you had to find a second teacher?"_ At Naruto's energetic nod, he tried to justify his reasons. _"Look kid, I could probably take on Jiraiya-sama in a fight and it would probably end in a tie-"_

"Yeah right!" interrupted Naruto. "You'd have your ass handed to you in the first few minutes of the match. That pervert trained my dad, and look at how strong he turned out!"

Akio swatted Naruto in the back of the head before continuing. _"Idiot, I wasn't finished! I was going to say that we might tie _only _if Jiraiya-sama doesn't use his toad contract. And besides, I wouldn't have used any jutsu other than my wind ones."_

Naruto looked skeptical but ended up nodding his head slowly. His sensei _was_ a fairly skilled shinobi, even if he mainly used wind jutsu. But then again, ninjutsu only made up about a quarter of a fight. There were also things such as taijutsu, kenjutsu, and genjutsu to take into consideration while fighting.

After a short time, the pair found themselves in front of a massive set of doors. Before leaving, Akio mouthed some words of advice to Naruto. _"Remember kid, he's not only the head of the clan, but also the head of the Shinninha. Show him proper respect, and try to act decent. This guy won't appreciate your name calling and joking. You _do not_ want to get on his bad side. Good luck._"

With those parting words, Akio patted Naruto on the shoulder before walking away in the direction that he and Naruto originally came from.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto prepared for what was about to come. He knew that the meeting was going to be awkward. Namikaze Osamu was Naruto's grandfather, and the father or Namikaze Akio and Namikaze Minato. Though despite their relations, Naruto and Osamu weren't particularly close. Osamu was usually preoccupied with leading the Shinninha, while Naruto, for his part, was usually busy training or making peoples' lives a living hell.

Naruto opened one of the doors and walked in.

The first sight that greeted Naruto as he walked in was an _enormous_ map of Fire Country. When Naruto looked at it a little more closely he could see Konohagakure, whose borders were outlined in dark ink and the names of countless little villages- some that he hadn't ever heard of. Things like mountains and forests were clearly marked with symbols and light blue lines. Another thing that caught Naruto's interest was that nearly the entire map was riddled with red dots. Some of them were far away from each other, while others were extremely close together. If Naruto's knowledge of geography was correct then those were the "safe-points" for the Shinninha in Fire Country.

The sides of the room were covered with pictures. Some of the pictures were of people who Naruto couldn't recognize, while others were of famous places, such as the Hokage monument (though it only had three faces).

At the very front of the room, where the map was, stood a large, wooden desk. Behind it sat a frail looking old man with graying hair and dull blue eyes. The old man wore a dark green shirt with a white robe (similar to a Hokage's) over it. He seemed to be writing something, completely oblivious to anything going on around him.

"Osamu-_sama_," Naruto greeted. He wasn't used to adding the honorary suffix to the end of anyone's name. The word ended up sounding stressed, and Naruto hoped that his grandfather wouldn't take any offence.

The old man finally looked up and gave a brief nod to acknowledge Naruto before pointing to one of the chairs in front of the desk. Naruto took the cue and sat on one of the uncomfortable wooden chairs.

"Good afternoon, Naruto. I hope you've been having a good day?" said Osamu in a voice so soft that Naruto almost didn't hear him.

Personally, Naruto couldn't help but wonder if there was some sort of curse on the vocal cords of the Namikaze clan. Akio was mute, a result of the Third Ninja War. His grandfather, Osamu, sounded as if every word he spoke would be his last. His own voice (not that Naruto agreed with any of this) was loud and often times obnoxious.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Naruto replied politely, "It's gone fairly well so far. Tell me though, why have you summoned me today sir? I doubt it was because you wanted to know how I was doing."

There was a short moment of silence before Osamu started to chuckle. "Always going straight down to business, just like your mother. She was such a nice woman- though I was quite surprised when Minato chose to marry her. Those two were complete opposites. But then again, opposites attract."

Naruto forced a smile before interrupting his grandfather. "What did you summon me for?" he asked, with the slightest edge in his voice_._

"Do forgive an old man for getting lost in his thoughts, Naruto. The reason that I called you here was because I've heard of the progress that you've made in the past couple of years. Akio has been ecstatic at how well you've progressed with our bloodline. From what he has told me, I believe you skill level is on par with your father's when he was your age, and believe me when I say that the boy was a prodigy."

'What are you talking about? For as long as I've known him, sensei has never given me a single compliment. Besides, he could bring me down in a few seconds, without even trying!" Naruto remarked.

"Don't forget Naruto that there is at least a thirty year age difference between you two. I don't think that he made any motion of complimenting you because he noticed that you have a bit of a problem with controlling your ego."

Seeing Naruto flush slightly, Osamu continued, "So you see? You're a formidable ninja and you didn't even know it!"

Naruto didn't know what to say. No one had ever called him more than an average ninja, but then again, he hadn't been in that many fights with kids his age either. Plus there was the bit about Akio-sensei telling Osamu that Naruto's progress was extraordinary. Was it really on par with his father's? Akio probably didn't think so, as he took great pleasure in breaking apart Naruto's fighting style and pointing out all the flaws. Naruto had to think this through. But one thing was still nagging at him, and he decided to voice it.

"Did you call me here just to remark on my skill as a ninja, Osamu-sama?"

"No, that's only part of the reason. You see Naruto, the Shinninha is, and always has been low on ninja. Although we've never had a problem with doing missions and supporting the people here, we've never had the manpower to make a proper stand against Danzou," Osamu said. There was hate in the man's voice when he mentioned the current Hokage.

"The reason that I've called you here, Naruto," started Osamu, "Was because I wanted to give you the chance to become a proper ninja- one who actually does missions instead of training all the time. You have definitely proved to have all the right traits, and my own son has recommended you. All that is left is for you to accept."

All traces of suspicion left Naruto as he heard that he was given the chance to become a real ninja. With eyes shining and a bright smile on his face, Naruto nodded rapidly. "Of course I'll accept, just tell me when to start! I'll take any missions that you have!"

Osamu clapped his two withered hands together with a large smile on his face. "Wonderful! And it just so happens that I have the perfect mission for you, Naruto."

By now Naruto was barely restraining himself from jumping up and down on the floor. "What is it, what is it, what is it?" he repeated in an incessant mantra.

"Well Naruto, as you many know, the Shinninha has spies in Konoha," Osamu started and upon seeing Naruto calm down he continued, "One of those spies, a high ranking one at that, was assassinated less than a week ago. News of the murder spread quickly through Konoha, but there have been no reports of an investigation going on."

"What was the spy's name?" Naruto asked somewhat hesitantly.

"Hyuuga Hizashi," said Osamu.

Silence reigned over them. It was a well known fact throughout the Shinninha that without Hyuuga Hizashi the entire Hyuuga branch house would still be living as slaves to the main house, with the Caged Bird Seal on their heads.

When Danzou became the Hokage, Hyuuga Hiashi chose to follow him, while Hyuuga Hizashi chose to align himself with the Shinninha. But with the caged bird seal in place, there was little that Hizashi could do.

That soon changed with the help of Jiraiya and eventually Namikaze Minato. Hizashi, along with the two men, worked on a way to counter the seal. A decade later their work paid off. Minato managed to create the Hisan Tori seal, a seal that would nullify the effects of the caged bird seal.

The members whose seals were removed during the testing faked their own deaths and became some of the first people to inhabit the mansion in Shikkyakuha. The rest of the branch house escaped later, under the cover of the Kyuubi attack. It was true that a few of the members died because of the fox, but the majority managed to get away. The fact that no bodies were found wasn't questioned. The second job of the Caged Bird Seal was to incinerate the body of the ninja when chakra stopped circulating to the brain.

Hyuuga Hizashi stayed behind and guarded Hiashi and his wife, ensuring that no attention was brought to the escaping ninja. When the attack was over, Hizashi became known as the sole surviving branch house member. Seeing as Hizashi was the only one left with the caged bird seal, Hiashi decided to have it removed from him. It would have been pointless having only one person in the branch house, especially when the possibility of that person willingly having children was slim to none. With the additional fact that he was Hiashi's twin brother, Hizashi's seal was removed, and he immediately became known as a member of the main house.

For Hizashi, climbing through the ranks was fairly easy. He was a seasoned Jounin and he had the respect of much of the Hyuuga clan. With the growing need to train his daughter, Hinata, and by getting promoted to be one of the Hokage's personal advisors, Hiashi ended up giving Hizashi the right to represent the Hyuuga in the Council of Konoha.

Though Council may not have had much power (though in the eyes of the public they could stand up to the Hokage), it was still a good position for a spy to be in. The members of the Council were better informed than even the shinobi, and therefore it benefited the Shinninha.

Naruto snapped out of his thoughts and asked the biggest question on his mind, "How?"

Osamu sat silently for a few moments before answering, "Hizashi was not only an amazing ninja, but he was a smart, no, brilliant one also. Even thinking about him accidently giving up his cover seems ludicrous. I believe that one of two things happened. Either Danzou has somehow managed to send a spy into the Shinninha, or one of our own has turned on us."

"Wouldn't the person who ratted out Hizashi have told Danzou about the Shinninha? Wouldn't Danzou have taken some action against us?" questioned a pale Naruto.

"That's what I want you to find out, Naruto," Osamu stated.

"What?" Naruto asked, completely caught off guard.

Osamu sighed as he looked at the bewildered blonde. "Naruto, your mission is to infiltrate Konoha, and to find out anything you can about the murder of the spy, Hyuuga Hizashi."

"Have you completely lost your mind, old man?" Naruto asked, completely giving up all signs of respect. "What you're asking from me is suicide. How do you expect me to get past ANBU, ROOT, and the hundreds of other shinobi that live in the village? How do you expect me to fool Danzou, or Orochimaru without getting tortured and killed?" Naruto questioned in a slowly rising voice.

Osamu shot out of his chair and slammed his hands into his desk, completely surprising Naruto. "Don't you see Naruto? Don't you see how you're the perfect candidate for this mission? You're a Namikaze, you can effectively use your bloodline, you have the Kyuubi sealed inside of you, and you have me, the once _personal_ advisor of Danzou, as your grandfather! Naruto, if anything you will be considered the _diamond_ of Konoha."

"You can't be serious! You can't just declare me a ninja and then send me off on an impossible S-rank mission! Besides how would I get into Konoha? What about my background? I can't tell the Konoha ninja that I grew up with the Shinninha! How do you know that I won't be killed on the first day for screwing up?"

"Weren't you just chanting to me that you would take any mission that I would give you? Nevertheless, getting into Konoha shouldn't be difficult once you reveal your heritage. Creating a false background isn't that difficult either. As for staying alive, I would suggest that you keep up a good act. The better you keep up your façade as the sole survivor of the Namikaze and as a loyal Konoha ninja, the longer you will stay alive," Osamu answered as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

"Why don't you just send someone else? Send Akio! He's much better suited for a mission like this," Naruto declared, adamantly refusing to take the mission.

"Akio was a grown shinobi during the time of the Kyuubi attack, and if he were to return to Konoha he would be labeled a traitor on sight." Osamu answered with the slightest hint of annoyance in his voice.

Great. Just fucking great. The old man was getting angry and Naruto still couldn't figure out a way to refuse the offer. Denying the mission without giving a good reason would only complicate matters in the long run. Naruto knew that Osamu was the kind of guy that held grudges. Unless he wanted to be doing crappy missions for the next few years, Naruto had to come up with a reasonable excuse. Unfortunately, it seemed like Osamu worked out every little complication that could endanger the mission.

"Forget this," Naruto said, deciding to take a gamble, "It's too dangerous and as much as I hate to say this, I'm way too inexperienced. I refuse to take this mission," Naruto finished, before he stood up and started walking to towards the door.

Halfway to the door Naruto added with a good-natured smile, "Besides, you wouldn't want to endanger the future heir of the Namikaze clan, now would you?"

Naruto was just about to open the doors and leave when a cold, sharp voice stopped him dead in his tracks. It was an alien voice, one that Naruto would have never associated with Osamu.

"None of that stopped you last night, did it?"

Naruto spun around and met the eyes of his grandfather. Gone was Osamu's small smile, which was instead replaced with a neutral expression. The once weak and fragile body seemed to have transformed into something deadlier, something fiercer. The entire body seemed to take on a fighting stance, even if it was still seated. When Naruto saw Osamu's arms move, they didn't move as slowly as they did last time. Instead they moved with fluidity- exactly like a ninja's.

But Naruto paid little attention to any of those changes as he stared into his grandfather's eyes. To Naruto _they_ were the things to change the most. The once pale blue eyes changed into glowing blue spheres that held nothing, absolutely _nothing_. The eyes bored into Naruto's own, but all the while, they seemed to take in every little move that Naruto made. Naruto stared into the eyes, mesmerized to the point that he even forgot to breathe for a few seconds. It was a look that Naruto had never seen before; it looked foreign on the old man's face.

"Last night, you remember it well, don't you? You snuck out of the protection of your home and into enemy territory. Did you think that that was dangerous? Then a team of ANBU found you, chased you, and very nearly caught you. You even fought and killed one. Did you think that you were inexperienced in that one moment? And during the entire chaise, did you even once think about the future of the Shinninha or the Namikaze clan?" Osamu asked in the same sharp voice he used only moments before.

Naruto had trouble forming words. His mouth worked on its own accord as it silently moved up and down. "H-how?" Naruto finally managed to form out.

"Very little goes on around here that I am not aware of."

Naruto nodded his head slowly and absentmindedly. He was still speechless about the fact that he was discovered. The repercussion for sneaking out was death, plain and simple. The possibility of one person risking the lives of hundreds of others was much too great.

"I will give you a choice. You can either accept the mission that was assigned to you, or you can lose your life. I will not have an ignorant child live while he recklessly risks the lives of my people, even if the child is of my own blood," declared Osamu with an edge in his voice. As if to emphasize his point, the old man reached under his desk and took out a kunai which he placed in front of him.

"_Shit," _Naruto thought. He lost and he knew it. Die or take a suicidal mission…They both seemed the same. But there was a chance, a slight chance that he could accomplish the mission and still live...After all Namikaze Naruto always counted himself as lucky.

It all depended on choice, something that Naruto hated. No matter what he chose, there would be some kind of set back or repercussion. Could he really overcome the knowledge that he might very likely be killed on the mission? And what if he was tortured? Could he resist and rise above that? Akio did, but he ended up losing his voice.

Or would he take the easy way out? No matter what he chose, he would most likely end up dead. But he had a choice. Would he, Namikaze Naruto, die like a coward, or would he die with honor?

No.

He would do neither. Naruto refused to be put into this position, and he refused to be killed. He would rise above everyone if that was what he had to do.

Naruto stared at the kunai that lay on the desk. And he _definitely_ wouldn't die like a coward.

"I…accept," Naruto answered in a firm voice.

Osamu nodded his head resolutely and the corners of his lips twitched slightly. He took a thick folder that lay on his desk and held it up. "Here is the mission briefing, the information that you will need to get in, and a list of reliable contacts that you will relay your information to. "

Naruto nodded his head slowly but said nothing. His anger was building and he didn't trust himself to open his mouth.

Naruto walked back to the desk, took the folder (but not before shooting Osamu a vicious glare), and started walking towards the door.

Just as he was about to leave the room, Osamu interrupted him a second time. "And Naruto," he started in the same weak voice that Naruto heard when he first entered the room, "Remember that failure will result in your death."

Naruto showed no sign of hearing the words as he slammed the door closed behind him.

As he walked down the hallway leading to his room, Naruto couldn't help but think,_ "What the fuck have I gotten myself into this time?"_

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_**All Reviews are greatly appreciated.**_


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2-

Naruto walked down a dirt path that led to the Southern gate of Konoha. He wore baggy, black pants and a white long sleeved shirt. Those were the colors of the Namikaze clan. He also wore a cheap pair of sandals and carried a small rucksack that contained some extra clothes.

Akio had chosen what he would wear and carry. He told Naruto that if he wore the colors of his clan, then he would prove to Danzou that he had at least _some_ knowledge on the Namikaze. But if he carried no weapons and wore cheap clothes, then Naruto would give off the impression that he didn't receive specialized ninja training and that he came from somewhere poor.

Sadly, Naruto knew that no Kage would accept a stranger into their village simply based on their clothing and appearance.

Akio had also stressed the importance of keeping everyone off guard. He gave Naruto the advice to always have some sort of trick up his sleeve. The more tricks Naruto could pull off, the longer he would be kept alive, even if it would be for the sole reason of sating the curiosity of others.

A speck of fear awoke because of that thought, forcing him to go over the made up back-story that Osamu had provided for him. The story survived Naruto's scrutiny once again, but that only served to further agitate the blonde.

The story seemed to make everything all the more _real; _ithighlighted the danger of the mission that he was undertaking. If Naruto didn't recite it perfectly, then he would be caught in a whole mess of trouble. He knew that, and he also knew that Danzou (and any other shinobi that he encountered) would be looking for any mistakes that could be found.

Body language was also something that Naruto knew that he had to watch out for. He couldn't look tense, or stutter. He had to play it calm, take everything in stride.

"_I don't have to do this. There's no one here from the Shinninha, and there are no Konoha shinobi around. I can run away from here. There's no one to stop me…"_

But then Naruto wondered about where he would run to. All of his family and the few friends he had where in Tsuirakuha. Could he really abandon them? Could he really start over?

"_I heard that Lightning Country is fairly peaceful right now. It's the last place that anyone would go looking for me. Besides, I've read about how beautiful it is during this time of year. Maybe I should go and see it for myself?" _

"_And who cares about family? Family doesn't send its members into enemy territory where the possibility of dying is through the roof. Family shouldn't threaten its members with death either. I guess that Akio is the only relative that doesn't have something against me."_

"_I doubt that starting over would be too hard. I could take some missions for easy money and find a good home in a fine village. Maybe I could join another hidden village…"_

"…"

"_Or maybe not. If every village goes through the problems that Konoha seems to go through, then I really don't want to become part of one."_

"_I guess that maybe they're all the same. Each village has its own set of problems, and those problems would only become _my _problems, if I joined another village. Might as well become a part of Konoha. It's the strongest village and if I understand correctly, the Namikaze are _still_ highly revered there. _

Naruto's resolve only strengthened when the gates of Konoha came into his view. His breath hitched in his throat and he nearly skipped a step. He _couldn't_ run now. He was so close!

Naruto closed his eyes for a brief moment and cleared his mind of all thoughts and feelings. He took a few slow breaths before opening his eyes. He felt calmer.

_**-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**_

It wasn't long after that that Naruto walked up to the pair of massive, wooden gates. Two Jounin guards stood on either side of the gates and stared directly at Naruto. The blonde ninja would have fidgeted under their gazes, but then that would have caused some suspicion.

"Can I come in?" Naruto asked when he was only a few feet away from the Jounin. Truthfully, he didn't know what else to say. He always pictured the guards starting the conversation, but apparently they weren't very talkative.

"Do you have any form of identification?" intoned the woman to his left in a flat voice. She had brown eyes and spiky, brown hair up to her shoulders. She had a pretty face, and if Naruto had to guess, he would age her around the mid-twenties range.

"I'm just a wanderer who wants to become a shinobi of Konoha." Naruto replied easily. Neither one of the guards seemed to budge at his explanation, but he hadn't expected them to.

"What is your name then?" the woman asked.

"I'm Namikaze Naruto."

The woman and her partner, a gruff looking man, exchanged a quick glance before they turned their attention back to Naruto.

"The Namikaze are dead, little child. Just because you have the appearance of one doesn't mean that you are one of them," said the woman in a soft, smooth voice. Just as she finished, Naruto felt the man's chakra flare for a brief instant before three more, foreign chakra signatures appeared around him. Naruto noticed no movement around him, so he decided to act as if nothing out of the ordinary happened. The new ninja, he decided, were hiding under a genjutsu.

Naruto forced a carefree smile onto his face and replied, "Believe what you want, lady. I have a scroll here, from my grandfather, which explains everything. Do you want to see it?"

Naruto reached into his pocket to take out the forged scroll, but upon noticing that the two Jounin tensed at his action, he quickly began to take his hand back out. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done.

One of the ninja under the genjutsu began running at Naruto as soon as he put his hand in his pocket. Naruto's instincts screamed at him to move, but before he could comprehend what was going on, he felt something hard hit him on the back of the head.

Darkness enveloped Naruto's vision, but he didn't immediately black out. He had just enough energy to see who had hit him. He turned his body slightly as he began to fall forward, just in time to see a white mask with some paint on it.

"_ANBU,"_ Naruto thought before he let himself be enveloped by the darkness.

_**-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**_

"…_no traces of genjutsu…"_

"…_.no evidence of surgery…"_

"_But he has a seal…"_

He thought that he could vaguely hear people talking. Did they just mention a seal? Where they talking about the Kyuubi? Wait...how did they know about the fox anyway? Who were those people? Where was he?

A sharp pain in his head made Naruto stop his line of thought. It took the blonde a little while longer to realize that he was injured. Normal headaches didn't hurt _that_ much.

What _happened _to him?

"…_signs of waking…"_

There were those voices again. Despite the pain that he was feeling, Naruto concentrated and tried to hear them better.

"…Inform Hokage-sama," ordered a solemn voice.

Naruto's eyes flew open in surprise. So he was in Konoha!

Konoha.

When he thought of that name, his mind seemed to go into overdrive. Memories of his meeting with Osamu, of walking down the path to Konoha, and of speaking with the Jounin guards flashed through his mind. Naruto lay in a stunned trance, simply trying to comprehend what had happened. The pain in his head seemed to steadily grow worse, but he forced himself to ignore it.

"_I shouldn't have put my hand in my pocket. I hadn't realized that these people would be so completely paranoid," _Naruto thought as he brought his attention to his surroundings.

The first thing that Naruto noticed was the he was bound. Thin strips of metal bound his arms and legs to the uncomfortable operating table that he lay on. They looked weak, but when Naruto tried to break through them, they held. He tried to add some chakra into his arms, but to his displeasure, found that it was quickly sapped away from him. Naruto brought his head up and examined his restraints a little more closely. He noticed barely legible seals scrawled into the metal.

"_Chakra-absorption restraints…Isn't that just fucking great?" _

"It's useless to struggle against those," said a voice to his right.

Naruto turned his head slightly to meet the gaze of a bored looking man dressed in all white. He had short, black hair and brown eyes. There were surgical instruments around him, some that were even covered in dried blood, but the man didn't seem to notice them. His eyes were glazed over, almost as if he was in deep thought or daydreaming.

"I noticed…Who are you?" Naruto whispered in a raspy voice. His throat was extremely dry, he realized. That made Naruto wonder about just how long he had been knocked out for.

The man looked as if he snapped out of a trance upon hearing Naruto's question, but he answered smoothly nonetheless. "Well, I'm a lot of things, believe it or not. Obviously, I'm a human, but I think that you can clearly see that. I'm also a ninja, more specifically a Jounin of Konoha. I'm a genjutsu master to boot. Just recently I was named the sensei of three brainless brats. I'm also thinking about becoming a fiancé…But that's not important right now. Who are _you_?

Naruto stared at the man as if he had just grown a second head. "How about just giving me your name?" Naruto asked in a slightly more normal voice.

"There you go, ignoring the question. I answered you straight up, so you should do the same," the still unknown man snapped back in a mock exasperated voice.

"But…I just wanted to know what your name was," Naruto countered.

"Well, you should have made your question clearer then," the man answered back easily.

"So can I have your name then?" Naruto asked. His patience was just about at its limit.

"Of course you can't have it! I could be charged with treason, and do you know the penalty for that? No? Well, it's death."

"But…But I'm not a spy," Naruto responded, caught completely off guard at the statement.

"Well, that just brings us back to my first question. Who are you?"

They couldn't have found out about him so quickly could they? Osamu and Akio were the only people who knew about his mission, and neither one of them would dare rat him out. But…Osamu did say that there could have been a spy in the Shinninha.

No!

If they really thought that Naruto was a spy, then he wouldn't have simply been bound. Naruto was pretty sure that he would have been tortured until he snapped if the Konoha ninja were aware of his true motives. Instead, someone just went to get the Hokage. So he wasn't a dead man yet…

For some reason, that thought did nothing to calm Naruto's nerves.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Naruto was just about to answer the question, when he heard two 'poofs' of smoke behind him. He couldn't see who it was, but judging by the way that the annoying man next to him straightened up, Naruto could tell that it was someone of high rank.

"Hokage-sama," greeted the now standing man. "The boy has awakened."

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­"Thank you for notifying me, Satoshi. You may return to your duties now," said a soft, calm voice.

"But Hokage-sama, you are only accompanied by one ROOT member! What if the boy somehow gets free? I cannot endanger your safety!" exclaimed Satoshi.

"One ROOT member is more than enough to take care of a single child, if the need arises, Satoshi," the Hokage answered in that same calm voice.

"But-"

"Satoshi, you are dismissed," Danzou said with the slightest edge of annoyance in his voice.

Naruto saw Satoshi tense slightly before giving a slight nod in Danzou's direction.

"Yes, Hokage-sama," he said quietly, and after a few moments, he disappeared in a 'poof' of smoke.

Soft footsteps echoed throughout the room as Danzou walked up to Satoshi's chair and sat on it. He looked old, probably in his sixties or seventies, with his graying, black hair that went just up to his shoulders and his dull obsidian eyes. He wore the traditional white Hokage robe with the symbol for Fire Country on the back.

Danzou sat in a way that reminded Naruto of Osamu. His back was straight, his hands lay on top of each other on his lap, while his legs simply stood a few inches apart. Overall, his body looked fragile, but Naruto knew that it was all just a façade. Osamu put up the same act, and Naruto ended up seeing the cold, heartless monster that truly lived within. He had no doubt that Danzou was the same. Naruto also knew that within that aging body was one of the greatest minds of the entire shinobi world. He had no doubt that he needed to be careful around him.

"_Silly old men, playing their childish games."_

Danzou stared at Naruto for a long time, making the young ninja feel uncomfortable. But Naruto didn't dare voice his complaints. The man in front of him held Naruto's life in his hands. Danzou had the power to free him or to kill him. No, disrespecting the old man wouldn't have been the smartest thing to do, no matter how tempting it was.

"I've had my best medics and my top genjutsu users examine you," Danzou started in that same annoyingly calm voice. "Not one bit of evidence was found that your appearance was altered in the slightest."

Naruto remained silent as he carefully listened to Danzou speak.

"I have also read that scroll that you were carrying with you. It was from…Osamu? Imagine my surprise when I read it. My old friend who I thought was long dead, was just revealed to have left the village on his own violation to…take care of you? Why would he do that, when he knew that Konoha has everything that the Namikaze ever needed? Behavior like that seems very odd, even for him. And yet I am absolutely positive that he wrote that letter. Maybe you could explain to me what has happened in greater detail, child?"

'_I never knew that Osamu and Danzou were once friends...Maybe…Maybe I could use this to my advantage? But wouldn't something as important as this been mentioned by Osamu? Maybe Danzou is making up this entire bullshit about friendship just to see how I'll react…Damn it all to hell.'_

Naruto decided to answer before Danzou started becoming suspicious. "Explain what?" the blonde asked.

The Hokage's black eyes bored into Naruto's blue ones as he answered back, "Who you are, where you came from, what has happened to Osamu; tell me everything and leave nothing back."

Naruto held Danzou's stare as he answered with confidence, "I'll tell you the same thing that I told the Jounin at the gates. My name is Namikaze Naruto."

"Tell me why you call yourself a Namikaze? Surely, you aren't arrogant enough to believe that I will simply believe you because of your appearance?"

"Didn't you just say that you read the scroll that I was carrying with me?" Naruto asked.

"Of course I did, but what kind of fool would trust a stranger who claims to be a member of a clan that was long thought to be dead? Plus, said stranger _conveniently _brings a scroll, written by _my _acquaintance, that clearly explains his identity," Danzou replied.

"Are you calling me a spy, or are you calling me a fraud? I can assure you, Danzou-sama that I am neither," Naruto shot back.

"There are ways to check whether or not you are related to the Namikaze clan. However, there can never be a definite answer about your true allegiances," Danzou responded.

Naruto thought for a moment before answering. "You wouldn't trust the words of a man you once considered a friend?"

Danzou's stare changed from apathetic to mocking. "Didn't you know? Your _friends_ can hurt you so much worse than your enemies. "

"First you call Osamu your friend, then you call him your acquaintance, and now you basically just called him your enemy. Make up your mind Hokage-_sama_," Naruto ridiculed.

The glare that Danzou shot at Naruto nearly made the boy reconsider what he just said.

"Shouldn't _you_ know about our relationship? According to that scroll, he _did_ raise you," Danzou replied with a voice full of scorn.

Happy that Danzou didn't snap, Naruto answered back with a voice full of bravado, "He never did talk about you on a personal level. But from what I've heard about you from the old man, I'm pretty sure that he would have hated you. Osamu was the kind of person who liked being in control of everything. With you being the Hokage, he simply _couldn't_ have what he wanted. Am I correct to assume that you two hated each other?"

Danzou nodded his head absent-mindedly and almost lazily. To Naruto it looked as if his thoughts were on a completely different topic. "Yes, Yes," Danzou began, "We hated each other. In a sense, we both competed for the same thing- power. We both ran for the title of Hokage. When I won, I took him as my personal advisor for the _sole _reason that he was my enemy. He had so much more to prove when he was my advisor. Had something awful happened to me or Konoha, he would have been blamed. He was a much better advisor than any of my so called "friends" could have ever been."

Danzou turned his attention back to the blonde, only to see him wearing a look of pure apathy.

"I don't care," Naruto said flatly. "I don't care about Osamu or about your term as Hokage."

Danzou's eyes widened marginally before they narrowed in a hard glare. "You really don't know how to use your mouth, do you boy?"

"Osamu told me to be straight up with you before he died," Naruto answered back calmly.

"Namikaze or not, you definitely have the mouth of one," Danzou murmured to himself. Unfortunately, Naruto had heard him.

"You know, a simple blood test could prove that I am in fact the grandson of Namikaze Osamu," Naruto stated in a "matter-of-fact" voice.

"You'll be happy to know that your blood is being tested at this very moment."

Naruto's voice turned serious as he voiced the other questions that popped into his head, "And what will happen when the results come in positive? What will you do then? Will I be labeled a spy and killed? Or will I be locked up in a cell until the day that I die?"

Danzou looked at Naruto with an uninterested look before he answered, "I have my ways of finding out traitors within my ranks."

Goosebumps ran up Naruto's spine as he heard that comment. _'Hizashi, is this what you felt like your entire time here?' _He quickly regained his composure and began to continue with his "story".

"We spent a lot of our time in Waterfall Country," Naruto said slowly, "It was neutral, the ideal place to train, and no one cared enough to give you a second glance."

"Any sources or witnesses that you may have left behind could have been bribed or threatened to say whatever you wanted them to say," Danzou replied without missing a beat.

"We've traveled throughout the whole village, sometimes in disguise sometimes not. People saw us and could easily clarity that. You can't bribe an entire country, Hokage-sama."

"Perhaps you are a spy from there and the people are under orders to confirm your identity as a traveler?"

"Do you honestly think that a village as small and unstable as the Hidden Waterfall would dare send a spy here? Konoha would take it as an act of war and would _decimate_ the village."

"Maybe not Hidden Waterfall…Perhaps you had, in fact, lived there with Osamu. What would have stopped other Hidden Villages from contacting you?" Danzou inquired.

"The simple fact that no one knew that we were alive," Naruto answered easily.

"That just brings us to our next question- why run away?"

Naruto broke eye contact with Danzou and turned his head to stare at the ceiling. Silence reigned over the two ninja for a while before Naruto finally spoke. "Osamu never told me when I asked him. At first I thought it was from the guilt of knowing that his entire clan died to serve the village. But later on in life I realized that Osamu never felt remorse over his actions. Every member of the clan that died, died for a reason. The Namikaze that fought in the Third Ninja War died because Osamu hated Iwagakure. Everyone who died in the Kyuubi attack died because Osamu wanted to protect the village. The list could go on for hours. Because of that, I know for sure that Osamu didn't leave because of guilt or sorrow."

Naruto turned back to face Danzou, and upon seeing that the old man was following his words, he continued. "Then I thought that he left because of how much Konoha had changed. Osamu would sometimes tell me about how different Konoha was thirty years ago compared to how it is now. But I realized that that theory also had a flaw. You see, no matter how much Osamu detested the changes that occurred over the past couple of decades, he still wanted to return. _That_ was something that he talked about all the time. Why would he leave if he wanted to return a few years later? He couldn't have left solely because of how much he hated the changes that occurred in Konoha."

"I was in the dark for the next few years. He gave no more clues or hints about Konoha, so I was basically stumped. It wasn't until he lay on his death bed did everything begin to fall into place. He wrote out the scroll that you took from me, and ordered me to go to Konoha. I didn't follow his orders at first because I didn't understand them. I knew quite well that he wanted to return to Konoha, but I could never figure out why. Osamu always had an ulterior motive, and I was determined to find out this one."

"I ended up traveling for the next few months," Naruto continued, "It was only when I began having trouble with money and finding missions, that I understood one of the reasons why he wanted me to return to Konoha; it would be _easier_ to live in a hidden village then on the road. And yet, I still went on, exploring, traveling, and working wherever I could. I didn't dare come here until I knew for sure why Osamu wanted me to come here."

"It was only a few weeks ago that I truly understood everything. My travels took me to Wave Country, where I saw corruption at its worst. A single businessman named Gatou turned an entire country, which was once prosperous, into a deserted hellhole. It shocked me to no end when I saw that some people still fought back, even though the spirit of the country as a whole seemed to have diminished," Naruto said in a solemn voice.

"I was reminded of Osamu's stories about Konoha. I remembered how he incessantly spoke about the need for change. He used to tell me that Konoha wouldn't thrive under the limitations that you put on it. The old man…he reminded me of the people who fought back against Gatou."

"I realized then why the old man took me away from Konoha, trained me, and then ordered me to come back. He wanted _me_ to bring about the changes that he envisioned. Osamu must have known that his time was near, so he did the only thing he could do- he chose a successor, someone who could carry out his legacy. He left Konoha because he wanted me to grow freely, and to create my own sets of beliefs. Osamu must have thought that by living here, in Konoha, I would be brainwashed, and would be nothing more than a living weapon," Naruto finished.

That spark of amusement that Danzou had in his eyes when he listened to Naruto's story was now replaced with a mixture of scorn and rage.

"Change…?" Danzou practically spat out. "Do you have any idea of just how _ridiculous _all of that sounded? Who do you think you are, mocking me and my life's work? I once let Osamu get away with that attitude, but that was only because he had a brilliant mind. But you, a simple child, actually have the nerve to say that you've come to abolish everything that I've ever worked for?"

Fear threatened to overtake Naruto, but he held strong. He looked straight into Danzou's eyes, the only parts of his body that seemed to give off even the slightest bit of emotion, and replied, "I never said that I've come to abolish anything. As I said before, Osamu let me create my own sets of beliefs. He may have assumed that I would adopt his hate for you and what you have done to the village, but to tell you the truth, my opinion is completely neutral."

Both Danzou and Naruto sat in silence once again, trying to collect their thoughts. Danzou broke the silence with his usual calm voice, "Neutral? Child, do you honestly think that I care about your opinion of me or my village? My people would never listen to your words, and even if they did, I could just as easily have you assassinated."

"Danzou-sama," Naruto began, "You completely miss the point. I have the potential to become your greatest ally or your greatest enemy. You may mock me because of I am but a child, but you ignore the fact that the Namikaze clan is _still_ revered in Konoha, even though all of the members are believed to be dead. Imagine the reaction that I would incur if I were to reveal myself to the public. How would you think that they would react later on if I was found dead? Who would be blamed other than the glorious Hokage for failing to protect the heir of the clan? Let's face it. You may have an entire army at your beck and call, but if you have a civil uprising from the citizens, Konoha's future is as good as screwed."

Danzou's lips curled up into a cruel smile. "And what makes you so sure that I would let the public know about you if I decided to kill you?" he asked in a voice filled with disdain.

Naruto countered with a smirk. "You mentioned a little while ago how you had your 'ways' of weeding out spies in your ranks. Are you confident enough to believe that there isn't a single spy among your ninja? If you are, then you have nothing to worry about. But if you have even the smallest bit of doubt, remember this: some villages would take advantage of anything and everything just to see Konoha in a state of turmoil. "

Naruto saw Danzou's body tense slightly. The calm look that he had on his face started to slowly darken as he began to glare at Naruto. "What would you know about spies?" Danzou hissed out. Naruto had to admit, that that was the most emotion that Danzou showed throughout their whole conversation.

"Not much, but I know from Osamu's stories just how paranoid you can get. Do you really want to tarnish your reputation with the blood of a Namikaze on your hands?"

The Hokage was just about to answer when another 'poof' of smoke appeared, right in front of the table that Naruto lay on.

Naruto brought his head up and met the eyes of a winded medic ninja. The medic was slightly pale, with hazel eyes and chestnut hair. Despite the presence of the Hokage in the room, the medic stared at Naruto for nearly five seconds before he addressed the leader of the village. "Hokage-sama," he began in a hoarse voice, "I've checked the boy's blood and it turns out that he was telling the truth. He is in fact a Namikaze. But that's not all. He is blood also matches that of Namikaze Osamu and Namikaze Minato…"

Naruto turned his head sideways just in time to see a flash of rage pass through Danzou's eyes. Naruto suppressed the smirk that threatened to overtake his features, but failed to conceal the victorious gleam that appeared in his eyes.

The Hokage forced a fake smile onto his face and replied in a collected voice, "Thank you for taking time out of your schedule to help me out, Satoru."

"It was a pleasure helping you, Hokage-sama," Satoru replied in a slightly lighter voice.

"I trust that you will not speak of this anyone until I permit?" Danzou asked in a somewhat colder voice.

"If you so wish, Danzou-sama," Satoru said sincerely.

Danzou nodded and absent mindedly added, "You may go now."

Naruto saw Satoru give Danzou a low bow before he disappeared in another 'poof' of smoke.

"You can't tell me that you actually trust him," Naruto said suddenly. "I mean, just look at how he acts around you. If the secret about me ever got out, he would be the first person that I would blame, if I were in your place."

"I had no doubt that you were Osamu's grandson," Danzou began, completely ignoring Naruto's previous statement, "But to think that you are also the son of Minato and the container of the Kyuubi…I would assume that you already know about that?"

Naruto nodded in reply. "If you still believe that I am a spy, then take this into consideration. What kind of village would willingly take a Jinchuuriki as a member, and then send it away to _another_ village where it could betray them in a heartbeat?"

Naruto could practically _see_ the wheels turning in the old Hokage's head. That was his last available argument, the last weapon that he had in his arsenal. If Danzou still believed him to be a spy, then he was as good as dead. He repeated the story that he was given almost perfectly, even adding some additional parts that he thought would help him out. Naruto was also positive that his acting was flawless. If Danzou didn't believe him after any of that, then it was because of the old bastard's paranoia instead of his disbelief.

"…Set him free," the old Hokage whispered after an intense moment of silence.

A ninja wearing a plain white mask and black clothes appeared from the darkness of the room and began taking of the restraints that held Naruto in place.

He or she was a member of ROOT, the single most fearsome organization in Konoha. Members were trained to become the elite of the village, but paid the price of giving up all of their emotions. They felt no pain, no remorse, and no anger. They were the perfect ninja, but only hollow remains of the people that they once were. Naruto felt no shame when he felt goose bumps run down his spine.

"So you're letting me go just like that?" Naruto asked. Avoiding the subject straight away or acting over excited would have been clear signs that he was lying. He might have won over enough trust to not be considered an outright spy, but Naruto knew that he was still in "hot water", so to speak. In fact, Naruto would have been surprised if he didn't have ANBU or even ROOT members trailing him 24/7.

"Your argument poses some fairly plausible points, Naruto-kun. Plus, I'll be sending several groups of ANBU into Waterfall Country to find evidence that can back up your story. It also wouldn't hurt having a ninja from your clan in my ranks, despite your alliances," Danzou responded smoothly.

Naruto nodded along as he stood up and started stretching. It felt good to have his chakra running through his body again; he felt like a man who just received water after spending an entire day in a dessert.

"It is ideal that you came just in time for the Genin exams; they will be held in two days...You are on the level of a Genin at least, correct?"

"Osamu taught me well," Naruto answered simply.

"Nevertheless, we shall see your level of skill as a ninja during the exams," Danzou declared.

"Where will I be living?" Naruto asked suddenly. He doubted that he would be allowed to live in his clan house, because of the freedom that it granted him.

"The Namikaze clan house would have been the perfect choice, but unfortunately it is currently being used as a shelter for new ANBU trainees. I will arrange for an apartment to be made ready for you," Danzou stated.

"_Of all the places to use, it just _had_ to be my ancestral home."_

"I would like to ask you two more questions, Naruto-kun," Danzou started, and continued when Naruto shot a curious look his way. "First off, I want to know why you never called Osamu by anything other than his first name."

Naruto's answer came almost immediately. "He may have raised me, but we were never close. As I said before, he had his own set of beliefs, while I was left to decide on my own. He stayed out of the way of my life, while I stayed away from his. We only truly "bonded" when he was training me. We had a mutual agreement that seemed to govern our relationship."

Naruto saw Danzou nod to himself before he asked his second question, "And how did Osamu finally die?"

Naruto once again answered without the slightest bit of hesitation. "He contracted a rare, incurable disease two years after he left Konoha. It slowly ate away at his chakra, making his reserves smaller and making it harder for him to replenish the chakra that he lost during fights. Eventually the disease stole all of his chakra, and his body simply couldn't keep going. His body can be found in a small cottage about 40 miles north of the Hidden Waterfall Village."

If Danzou felt any remorse or sadness at the death of his ex-advisor, then he must have kept it all inside. On the outside he looked as calm and collected as ever. That casual attitude really began to freak Naruto out.

"And Naruto? Before you go, let me warn you about something."

Whether it was because he dropped the "-kun" suffix or because of the slight undertone of complete seriousness that accompanied those words, Naruto paid close attention to what Danzou would say next.

"If you ever, _ever_ dare to speak to me in the way that you did today, I will personally cut out your tongue," Danzou spat out, letting some of his rage through his emotionless façade. As if to add insult to injury, the old war hawk took a knife from inside his robes, and threw it at Naruto. The knife flew right by Naruto, effectively cutting his cheek enough to draw a few drops of blood, and embedded itself into the wall.

"And I will use that knife to do it. Now get out!"

The last words were said in a slightly raised voice, but from what Naruto understood about Danzou, that was equivalent to a normal person screaming. Not needing to be told twice, Naruto quickly hurried out of the room, not even thinking about where he would go or what he would do next.

Despite what happened, Naruto felt relief wash over him. The tough part was over. He was done creating his new persona, and all that was left now was to just play it out. He had fooled Danzou strongly enough that the old Hokage actually gave him a measure of freedom in the village. And he had finally gotten one over Osamu, the bastard that got him into this whole mess. The old man dared risk Naruto's life for some foolish cause that the boy cared so little about.

But Naruto survived.

Naruto won, and his prize was that he could keep his life for at least a little while longer. He would make sure that the time was not used in vain.

Naruto walked through the only door in the room and entered a long hallway. He didn't know which way to go, nor did he care very much. He had to think about what his next action would be. Obviously, he had to get settled down first. Then he would most likely be introduced to the public...If the reaction of that medic ninja was anything to go by, then Naruto knew that it was definitely going to be a drag.

"Namikaze-sama," a quiet, monotonous voice called, breaking Naruto from his thoughts. Naruto looked around and was only slightly surprised when he noticed that he had no idea where he was. He searched for the source of the voice and discovered an ANBU wearing a raven mask behind him.

Naruto plastered a fake smile on his face and addressed the masked ninja, "Can I help you, ANBU-san?"

"The Yondaime has asked me to show you to your apartment, and to give you a tour of the village," the ANBU said in the same detached voice.

Naruto nodded and said, "Lead the way then."

Oh yes, it would _definitely _be a drag.

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_**All Reviews are greatly appreciated.**_


	4. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3-_

Lightning flashed in the sky one…two…three times, before the tremendous roar of thunder was heard throughout Konoha. Almost immediately, a heavy rain began to fall all over the Hidden Leaf Village, quickly soaking everything in its way.

Oddly enough, Naruto didn't seem to mind the weather. He seemed to _relish_ the sound of raindrops as they hit his window, the smell of the storm, and the sight of the thunder. It was strange how the weather seemed to reflect his mood.

Two days ago, he was introduced to the public. Without any exaggeration, it was among the most terrifying moments in Naruto's life. Thousands of people appeared, screaming, cheering, and routing for him. Everyone wanted to get a view of him, and (in Naruto's opinion) did their damndest to get a few words in with him, possibly even a handshake. It was his own personal hell made up of fake smiles, loud noise, and a paranoid Kage breathing down his neck.

That kind of environment wasn't what Naruto was used to. He had spent nearly his entire life in the relative calm of Tsuirakuha. After such an enormous change in the atmosphere…Naruto wasn't sure if he could still be called "mentally fit".

For the past two days, Naruto was forced to attend the rigorous festivals in honor of his so called "return". Even worse, Naruto was in the company of Danzou and about half a dozen ROOT members for nearly the entire time. His acting was put to the ultimate test. One wrong move, one miscalculation, or one little mistake could have exposed him, at least in Danzou's eyes.

The worst part about it was that even if Danzou did somehow discover that he was a spy through some accidental slip up, he wouldn't be killed. No, the option of killing Naruto disappeared as soon as he was introduced to the public. Instead, Naruto was positive that he would be put under _constant_ surveillance for the rest of Danzou's term, at the very least.

And that was no exaggeration.

He would have virtually turned into a prisoner in Konoha, and not only would his mission have been completely compromised, but his life would have essentially ended. He wouldn't be able to run because his captors would most likely be stronger than him. He would be forced to live and work in a village that he cared nothing about.

It was definitely all a ploy by Danzou, a last resort of sorts, to uncover Naruto's secrets before he was made a shinobi of Konoha (assuming that Naruto passed the Genin Exam).

And yet, Naruto once again succeeded. Naruto played his part perfectly. He countered every smile with one of his own. He shook everyone's hand and said how pleased he was to meet them. He offered kind words to anyone who wanted to speak with him.

And you know what?

He won everyone's heart.

The people saw a powerful, polite, and charismatic young boy who was eager to become a ninja of Konoha. They fell for his act, his trap, and they adored him without understanding that in doing so they were saving his life.

Danzou and Osamu both knew that, and so did Naruto. Danzou couldn't go against the public's wishes since it would hurt his reputation and could possibly cause an uprising. Danzou may have had an army of loyal ninja at his disposal, but if the non-shinobi went into civil war…well…Konoha wouldn't survive if its population was made up of only ninja.

It was a silent battle that Naruto won. Exhaustion was just a petty price to pay for the protection that he gained.

Naruto broke that line of thought and brought his attention onto what his next move would be. Osamu had given him a list (which he was forced to memorize) of trusted spies in Konoha. Obviously, he needed to somehow become a part of that network. That was going to be difficult considering the fact that Naruto could vaguely feel several high level chakra signatures around him at all times.

He was being observed, and the question was how long that would last. Obviously he had to somehow gain the trust of Danzou. It would be much easier to move through the ranks and gain information if the Hokage wasn't against him.

But how could Naruto get the old war hawk to trust him, if the old man so adamantly believed that Naruto was a spy?

He couldn't give himself an answer.

Until he could, he was stuck in the same position; a secret stalemate that only he was aware of.

He could always take a small risk though…Meeting up with one of the spies wouldn't at all be difficult. There were codes that could be used, cryptic messages that could be exchanged. No Konoha shinobi would know the difference with the conversation from his next.

But did Naruto really dare to risk the life of an innocent?

He disliked Osamu, sure, but the spies…They were in the same position as he was. Could he honestly risk the safety of his own kind? The spies in Konoha might one day become his only friends; Kami-sama knew the repercussions for getting attached to a loyal member of Konohagakure. Could he risk compromising the positions of people who lived in fear, day in and day out, just as he had done for the past two days?

He damn well couldn't.

Naruto grit his teeth as he began to feel angry with himself. He hated not being able to do anything; it made him feel useless and helpless. He had secrets to discover, but instead he just sat there, not even able to organize his thoughts.

But he just had so many things to do, so much to accomplish that it felt overwhelming. Thoughts raced at breakneck speed all throughout his mind.

It was terrifying, Naruto realized. Every move that he made and every word that he spoke could be seen and heard. He couldn't hide anywhere nor could he run away. He was trapped, and had no moves to make.

All he had left were his those incessant thoughts of his. They were like little insects, working together to form an indestructible army that would tirelessly weaken his mind, slowly but surely.

He hated thinking like that, but it was true. He hadn't slept much for the past few weeks, let alone the past couple of days. The little sleep that he did get was filled with unpleasant nightmares.

His mind just wouldn't give in. He just had so many things to worry about. Sometimes, even the mission that he was given wasn't important compared to what he imagined would happen to him if he was caught.

Every night, Naruto went over the events that occurred during the day. He made sure that he made no slip-ups and that everything was in fairly good order. He went over his strategies and objectives for the next day, just for the sake of having some sort of plan. It felt a little better knowing that he wouldn't be walking into danger blindly.

But that tactic only came in handy when he had a clear idea about what would occur on the next day. The Genin Exam, for example, was something that Naruto had no idea about.

There were no reports on it, no rumors about it, no nothing. It was a secret that Konoha guarded quite heavily. What made it worse was that neither the new genin nor the examiners ever spoke about it after it was finished.

It frustrated Naruto to no end, not being able to know something like that, and he hated himself for feeling that way. It made him feel like the manipulative son of a bitch that was his grandfather.

What the fuck did he do to get stuck in this situation?

A second clash of thunder sounded throughout Konoha, bringing Naruto's attention to the window that he sat in front of.

A heavy wind mixed with the rain to create a devastating combination. The rain fell even harder than before, and it was now accompanied by a ferocious howling sound. The rain and wind combination slammed against Naruto's open window, creating a loud racket, and began to enter his apartment. Naruto vaguely noticed that the area around the window was completely wet, but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to care.

The weather…it…it captivated him for some reason. Each drop of rain, each gust of wind, each clash of thunder…

It was chaos in its simplest and most natural form. It was unpredictable, uncontrollable, and powerful- very, very, powerful.

The rain fell without any specific pattern, the wind created a piercing sound that couldn't be ignored, and the thunder struck wherever it so pleased. There was no order; it was pure, uncensored pandemonium.

And itreflected his state of mind, almost perfectly at that.

Thunder once again echoed throughout the night, and it mesmerized Naruto.

Thoughts, some coherent and some not, raced through his mind. Was it just him or was the thunder striking more often? Why was he suddenly shaking? What did he suddenly feel so much pressure in his head? What was happening?! Where was he?! Who was he?!

There was another flash of lightning, followed by another clash of thunder.

Naruto sat in a daze as all thoughts and emotions left him. His mouth opened slightly and his eyes widened marginally as the pressure in his head started becoming stronger. It soon began to beat, not unlike his heart, and Naruto nearly screamed out because of the intense pain that ran through his head. And yet the beating still only increased.

Vaguely, Naruto felt chakra being forcefully taken from his body. Usually, when he used his chakra, he took it out in (somewhat) controlled amounts. The state, power, and controllability of the chakra were usually determined by what emotions he felt and by the amount of demon chakra that was running through his system. Wind could be calm but dangerous, peaceful yet deadly. Naruto learned how to control his chakra specifically in those types of situations.

This time, however, his chakra took on a more aggressive nature. Instead of gliding through his coils as it usually did, it swiftly ran through them, giving him a slight jolt of energy. The "new" chakra seemed uncontrollable, yet more powerful than anything he handled before. But the worst part about it was that it _hurt_. Naruto's chakra coils felt as if they were housing fire. The foreign chakra was escaping his body in large amounts, without his consent, and was traveling through his window and into the sky.

Naruto heard a faint 'crack' sound in his mind, before he felt the beating in his head disappear abruptly.

Before he could even comprehend what had happened, a tremendous blast of thunder, the largest one of the day, erupted from the sky.

Words couldn't describe the euphoria that he felt for the next few moments.

It felt like a drug was inserted straight into his bloodstream. The after-effects of his headache were gone, replaced by a feeling of pure bliss. He forgot about the pain that the foreign chakra caused throughout the rest of his body, as he was overrun with ecstasy. He felt no concern, not a care in the world. He didn't feel any emotions, whether they be anger, fear, happiness, or sadness; he was too good for them…He was _above _them. Naruto felt as if he could accomplish anything, as if he was the greatest, the very best there ever was. The feeling lasted for nearly a minute, but to Naruto it felt like mere seconds.

Naruto was soon brought back to his senses, only to find himself on his hands and knees on the floor, with blood dripping from his mouth, nose, and ears. His heart was beating abnormally fast, to the point that it actually hurt a little. The rest of his body was suffering from chakra exhaustion to the point that it actually felt numb.

He brought his head up weakly to face the window, and saw that the rain still wasn't letting up. Blood dripped from his face and onto the floor.

His mind lost whatever grasp it had on reality, and the rest of his body felt way too tired to go on any longer. Exhaustion plus countless sleepless nights were fighting a winning battle against his body.

A final flash of thunder echoed throughout the night.

Naruto stared at it, once again fascinated. His blue eyes glowed for a faint instant before they rolled up into his skull and his arms and legs gave away under his weight.

He fell ungracefully onto the floor, but was unconscious before he could feel the impact.

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Waking up was never one of his strong points. No matter how much sleep he got, or how little work he had done the day before, he would always have trouble in getting up. It was the few minutes after he opened his eyes that were usually the absolute worst.

Today, as always, waking up proved to be an elaborate challenge. His mind was wide awake, but his body just didn't feel like moving.

He was lucky though. He had nowhere to be today, except for the Genin Exam, which would begin at seven in the evening. He managed to coax Danzou into giving him a "day-off" for some extra training in preparation for the exam. It was a logical excuse for not attending the celebrations, and Danzou ended up reluctantly agreeing.

He had nothing else to do, and if the rain from last night was still falling, then his training time would be cut short. So basically, he could still lie in bed for a few minutes without any unpleasant repercussions.

He rolled onto his back and slowly opened his eyes. All laziness immediately left him as he took a quick glance around his surroundings. A couple observations stood out above the rest

First, he wasn't lying in bed but on the floor. Second, it wasn't even close to morning; his room was still completely dark. Third, his whole body was in some serious pain.

Maybe his mind wasn't as awake as he had originally thought?

Naruto jumped to his feet and took a good look around his new apartment. He couldn't see much because his eyes still hadn't become accustomed to the dark, but he managed to make out the time on the clock.

'_Six? Last time I checked, it was six thirty…Oh…shit.'_

Realization hit him like a kunai to the head. How the hell did he sleep for nearly _twenty-four _hours? He was tired last night, sure, but to sleep for that long…

Things only turned worse when he couldn't remember what happened. The very last thing that he remembered was sitting in the chair in front of the window, thinking about his time in Konoha, when thunder struck. Everything past that was blank. It was as if nothing at all had happened and he had just fallen asleep in his chair. But that couldn't have been the case. He couldn't have slept for that long, no matter how tired he was.

Naruto grit his teeth and rushed to the bathroom. He didn't have time to think about what happened; the Genin Exam would start in less than an hour.

He flicked on the lights and came face to face with his reflection.

Bloody wouldn't even begin to describe it.

Everything under his forehead was coated with a layer of blood. His nose, hair, cheeks, chin- everything was covered in a mask of crimson. The blood was dry, and stuck to his face like glue. It managed to outline his features, especially his whisker markers, to give him the look of something fierce, something _demonic_. His blue eyes did little to lessen the intensity of his image.

His white shirt wasn't in much better condition. Dark red stains marred its surface to the point that Naruto couldn't tell whether it was originally white or red. It was all a grotesque combination that nearly made Naruto vomit.

Shaking slightly, Naruto moved away from the mirror and haphazardly threw his clothes away. He went to turn on the shower when he was finished, and stepped in as soon as the water started running.

It felt like little drops of liquid ice were hitting his bare flesh, but Naruto ignored the unwelcome sensation.

Something big happened last night, and the fact that he couldn't remember it only deepened its magnitude.

He couldn't have gotten into a fight, he was fairly certain of that. He would have had at least _some _recollection of what happened. Did he hit his head on something? That couldn't be true either. He would have felt more pain than a simple headache.

…Maybe he got wasted? No, that wouldn't explain the blood.

He drew blanks despite how hard he tried to remember or come up with an explanation.

He spent over thirty minutes in the shower, standing still and letting the water hit him. The blood washed off and formed a bright red whirlpool on the floor of the shower.

When Naruto got out, he felt more awake than ever. Unfortunately, he also felt more apprehensive than he had felt in over a month. Something had definitely fucked with his head. Whether it was the Kyuubi, a ninja, or his own stupidity, Naruto wasn't certain.

But he knew one thing for sure- he wouldn't let something like that happen again. He would take the necessary precautions to avoid a situation like that again. From his brief knowledge of seals, he knew for sure that it would be possible to create a seal that would prevent any "tampering" with his mind. Creating a seal that complicated would normally take years of study and experience, but Naruto knew some people from the Shinninha who would be able to do the job for him.

And if the cause of his memory loss was the Kyuubi…well, it was about time that he visited the fox once again, just to make sure that it was still acting "reasonable".

But all of that would be taken care of later. Right now he had to leave for the Genin Exam.

Naruto quickly dried himself up, and put on the spare clothes that he arrived to Konoha with.

He made his way towards the window of his apartment and jumped out after taking one last glance at his apartment.

He would get back at whoever decided to fuck with him, no matter what it would take.

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Naruto arrived at the designated area with time to spare. It was a training ground that was enclosed by a ten foot fence. It greatly resembled a forest, but that was all that Naruto could make out because of the darkness. It was fairly large, at least a couple acres long on each side. There was absolutely no noise coming from anywhere inside the forest, despite the fact that it was night. That little fact disturbed Naruto the most. Even screams were better than the dead silence that clouded the forest.

A few other people arrived before Naruto, but they paid him no mind. It was dark, and no one could make out anyone's features. Naruto wasn't even sure if the others were aware of his arrival.

The less attention Naruto drew to himself, the better. He already had the non-ninja population of Konoha worshiping him, and he didn't need the ninja population acting the same way. Sadly, if the treatment of the Hyuuga and Uchiha were any indication, he knew that he couldn't really hope for much.

The clouds from before disappeared and the stars sparkled freely in the endless black sky. The moon was nowhere in sight.

Naruto relaxed his muscles and calmed his emotions. The run from his apartment to the training ground did wonders, not only to his out-of-shape physique, but also to his raging emotions. He had learned a lot about Konoha's geography from the tour that the ANBU gave him on his first day in Konoha, and ended up taking one of the longer routes to the training ground.

The deep silence was broken when a soft voice murmured Naruto's name.

Naruto snapped out of his thoughts and turned around slowly to face the speaker. From what Naruto could make out, it was a boy somewhere around his height. His eyes and hair were the same dark color, and he held himself with an air of confidence and a slight superiority. The boy wore white shorts and a shirt of some shade of blue.

Naruto refrained for answering for a few seconds as his mind tried to put a name on the unknown figure. He had heard, or at the very least read about people with similar appearances; he just couldn't seem to recall the name of the clan…

Naruto's eyes traveled up to meet the black eyes of the boy, only to see them flash a deep shade of crimson for a brief moment. Realization sparked inside of Naruto.

"Uchiha," Naruto replied in a rough voice. He frowned to himself when he heard what he sounded like after not having spoken in so long. "What do you want?"

A scowl slowly crept up onto the Uchiha's face as he looked at Naruto with slight disgust. "So this is what is left of the all-powerful Namikaze? A little boy who's just about to enter the Genin Exam? Time must have no pity for the self-proclaimed 'legends' of Konoha!" the Uchiha mocked with a voice full of disdain.

Naruto sent back his own vicious scowl. "I bet that it must have killed you inside to find out that the Namikaze still had a surviving heir, Uchiha. How does it feel knowing that your clan is once again second, no, _third_ best in Konoha?"

Although it was too dark to see, Naruto could practically _feel_ the hatred that was oozing off of the Uchiha.

You've just got to love honor and pride.

The silence lasted for at least ten more seconds, as the Uchiha reveled in his loathing. The boy's irises turned into the crimson red that the Uchiha were famous for. Each eye had two tomes that spun slowly and lazily as the Uchiha glared at Naruto.

Naruto stared back at the Uchiha, but avoided any eye contact, instead staring at the boy's nose. The boy may not have had a fully matured Sharingan, but a premature one could be just as dangerous if the kid knew what he was doing.

"Third best?" the Uchiha spat out. "You aren't even a ninja yet and you call yourself superior to the _Uchiha _clan!"

"If the rest of the clan is made up of assholes like you, then yeah, I am better then all of you," Naruto retorted scornfully.

A smirk started to slowly form on the Uchiha's face. "You wouldn't last in a fight against any Uchiha, Sharingan or not, Namikaze. Don't think that we don't know what your _precious _chakra does to you. If you use so much as half, you'll be comatose, and if you use any more, you'll be dead."

"Keep thinking like that and you'll get your ass handed to you, Copycat," Naruto responded in a mocking voice. "What kind of clan would we be if the lowly knew all of our secrets?"

The smirk on the Uchiha's face only widened as he let out a cold chuckle. "You really don't know who you're dealing with, do you? You may have fooled the civilian population, but the ninja know that you're nothing but a spy. You're not helping yourself by insulting the most powerful clan in Konoha."

"The shinobi of Konoha are nothing more than tools who believe whatever their master says. You're even worse than them because you actually try to enforce those beliefs," Naruto whispered, more to himself than to the Uchiha.

"Watch your mouth, Namikaze. Despite what the public may think of you, Danzou-sama will not hesitate to send people to assassinate you if you get out of line."

The tone of voice that the Uchiha used scared Naruto more than the words ever could. The devotion and respect that the Uchiha used when he mentioned Danzou astonished Naruto. If a mere academy student felt that way towards the old man, then how devoted were the _real_ ninja? It sent goose bumps down Naruto's spine just thinking about it.

Naruto snapped out of his thoughts and threw on a scowl, which was more or less real. "What difference does it make if I insult you or suck up to you? Would you have thrown in a good word for me if I was a little nicer? Would the shinobi _miraculously_ change their opinion of me? Or maybe that imaginary sack of shit that's hanging on my back, holding all of my problems and dragging me down, will spontaneously disappear?"

Naruto took a quick glance at the Uchiha's eyes and saw that anger was once again building up. "No? Really, could you please just nod your head up and down? I won't mind; I'll probably get on my knees and worship you, just like you want. Please, please, _please_!"

"Oh come on, why won't you do it?! Come on, Uchiha! You're supposed to be a part of the most powerful clan in Konoha! Stop being so damn useless and help me solve my problems!"

Naruto stopped his rant and saw that the Uchiha was actually speechless. He could just barely make out the outline of the Uchiha's mouth open slightly and then close soon after. It wouldn't hurt to add some fuel to the fire. He was sure that he had already made a life enemy; a little more taunting wouldn't hurt at all.

"Wow…sorry, for a minute I thought that you could actually help me. Maybe you're clan isn't as great as you may imagine?" Naruto purposely widened his eyes slightly and took a few steps towards the Uchiha. "And do you want to know why I say that? It's because the Sharingan can't solve anything; it's only purpose is to copy until its user burns out. You'll get nowhere in life without it Uchiha, but with it, you will never be a match for me."

The Uchiha finally regained his sense of inner balance and replied in his usual, slightly arrogant and superior, but otherwise calm and devious voice, "Keep thinking like that and the streets will be filled with your blood sooner than you may think," he said, half-mimicking the response that Naruto used.

"Fight me right now, Copycat, and we'll see whose blood will be spilt," Naruto countered.

"We'll fight each other soon, but not right now, Namikaze,"

It took Naruto a few seconds to comprehend what the Uchiha meant. "You know what the Genin Exam will be, don't you?"

The Uchiha threw one last smirk in Naruto's direction before he turned around and stalked off into the darkness, leaving Naruto alone once again.

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Pale eyes stared at the gathered crowd, silently assessing it, but at the same time glaring at it with hatred and loathing. So weak were the children, that it would be laughable to see their reactions to the upcoming task. They were the weakest of the weak, not even powerful enough to gain the attention of anyone even slightly above their rank.

And the overconfidence, the _arrogance_ that they displayed! Those brats thought that they were going to pass the test? They actually thought that they were going to finish unscathed? Did they think that they were going to come out as naive as they were when they went in?

They were in for a hell of a surprise.

She could count on her fingers how many of them would come out of the forest alive. Those who failed deserved everything that they got, without being shown a single bit of mercy. They _failed_ in completing an assignment that was so much related to a mission. Failure was not an option for a ninja. Missions were given for a reason. They were to be fulfilled to the very last letter. If, at a young age, a child couldn't execute the simple orders that he or she was given, then there were absolutely no guarantees that they would be able to match up to Konoha's standards.

It was absolutely _disgusting_ how some people felt otherwise. She had seen it too many times to count- people weeping and mourning for the deaths of their children. They all knew the implications of their actions, but for some reason, they ignored them. Oh how she wished that she could just throw them all into the Akumu Yutori. They wouldn't last for more than an hour.

But those children that passed…They would later on become the elite of the village, Konoha's very pride. Their minds would be broken, and perfection would be drilled into their hearts. Those were the people that she could grow to respect. In a few years, they would become the force of the village, the ones who would continue to spread Konoha's greatness.

Even now, just by looking at their scrawny little bodies, their naïve faces, and their shaky posture, she could tell which ones would pass, and which ones would fail.

Eight clans were represented this year, a record no doubt. As was customary, each child received extra training from his or her clan in addition to that given in the Academy- she was sure of that.

The Uchiha and Hyuuga heirs were by far the most prominent. Their doujutsu gave them near limitless abilities when compared to the other shinobi. Both children stood near each other, with the Hyuuga sending the Uchiha an icy glare which the Uchiha happily returned. Time did nothing to appease the eternal hate that each clan had for the other.

The Aburame, Inuzuka, Yamanaka, Akimichi, and Nara heirs stood apart from the Hyuuga and the Uchiha, but they still weren't a part of the same group.

Despite the near blatant animosity between them, each clan had loose ties with the others. The clans may not have liked each other, but at the very least, they tolerated each other. It was an unspoken agreement that worked quite well for missions and wars alike.

Her thoughts on the clans ended up bringing her to an anomaly. There was a new recruit this year, a child old who came to Konoha just in time to take the Genin exam. Of course, such situations weren't entirely uncommon, as some Jounin liked to take apprentices at an early age, leave the village to train them, and return in a few years so that the apprentice could take one of the Ninja Exams.

But that wasn't the case with this kid. He came alone, with almost nothing on him, wanting to become a shinobi of Konoha. And to top it all off, the kid claimed to be a Namikaze.

She almost laughed at how much commotion a single brat caused.

Danzou-sama had given the ANBU a brief recap of the conversation that occurred between him and the kid. As it would turn out, the kid wasn't bluffing. A blood test proved him to be a legitimate Namikaze. But Danzou-sama had ordered all of the ninja to treat the kid as a spy. Hokage-sama had said that even though the kid's story was plausible, it was at the same time to _perfect_. There was a possibility that the kid was a spy, sent by one of the ninja villages.

The theory wasn't entirely unbelievable. Anyone could be trained to be a spy. The only difference between the kid and all of the other spies was that the kid had some deep roots in Konoha.

The woman behind the mask scowled.

That piece of waste tried to take advantage of the greatest village in the world? How dare he.

If she saw the kid make one single slip up, one _tiny_ mistake that brought his loyalty to Konoha into question, then she would slit the brat's throat in a heartbeat. She, along with the entire ninja population of Konoha, had absolutely no pity for traitors or spies. They would all be captured and killed, just like that filth that called himself a Hyuuga.

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There were times when Naruto couldn't help but hate the world.

As he stared at the wrinkled face and tall figure of his 'teacher' as she explained the rules of the exam, he realized that this was one of those times.

He took a look at the faces of the people around him and saw that the majority of them were as shocked as he was.

The few kids who weren't shocked had grim expressions. Vaguely, Naruto recognized the faces, but he couldn't remember from where. Only upon seeing the face of the Uchiha in the crowd did he finally realize that he was staring at the faces of the children of Konoha's major clans.

'_Why am I not surprised that they all know about what's going to happen?' _

Osamu's reports gave him a hefty amount of information on each of the clans, including the pictures of several members. Needless to say, he was more than prepared to fight them in the need arose. He would, however, fight them only as a last result. The last thing he needed was to make a new enemy during his first week in Konoha. He'd have to stay clear of the clan members while in the forest, at all costs.

Thinking of the forest brought him back to thinking about the matter at hand. What kind of sick village made killing a necessity for passing the Genin Exam?

If he remembered correctly, Kiri once had a similar sort of exam. The object was to pit lifelong classmates against each other in a battle to the death. The graduating classes were small, but the ninja that came out were flawless. The stress of killing a friend did that to a person. Death turned from a wanton action into a mere inconvenience. Everything went to hell once a single kid ended up killing his entire class, with only a kunai at his disposal. Kiri ended up getting the nickname "Bloody Mist", which did wonders in destroying its reputation with the other villages

Once Danzou became the Hokage, he must have implemented this type of exam into the students' curriculum. But he was smart about it, unlike Kiri.

For one, he kept it a secret. It was clear to the old man what would happen once foreign countries found out about the exam. They would use it to their advantage and discredit Konoha. One by one Konoha's allies would abandon the village, threatening Danzou's control over the ninja world. Kiri was once considered among the strongest of the hidden villages. Now, it was pitifully waging war against its seven greatest swordsmen and clashing against its once revered clans.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

The woman started roughly, before falling into a coughing fit. Naruto was brought out of his trance at the unpleasant sound.

"Each of you will also," the woman started again, a little quieter and slower, "Receive a ring. The ring will be put on your right ring finger, and it will stay with you throughout your career as a ninja. The rings serve as an identification measure to prove that you are indeed a shinobi of Konoha. Apart from that, they will also be used to show your rank."

The woman's voice turned from temperate to icy in seconds. "At any point in your careers, you may be asked to present your ring as proof of identification. If you fail to present it when asked, you will be imprisoned and tried in front of the Hokage and Council."

Naruto tensed for the slightest instant, but otherwise kept his outside complexion calm. He hadn't heard a thing about any…_rings. _There was nothing, absolutely nothing, in Osamu's work that even implied anything about rings. It must have been some kind of new security measure.

Naruto only arrived three days before the Exam. Was it possible to make at least thirty rings in less than three days? He didn't think so. They must have been in effect for some time already. But if that was the case, then wouldn't more peoplehave one? The more rings out meant that there was a greater chance of them being discovered.

He hated no knowing.

The woman continued her speech, which was quiet, but with enough force in it to keep everyone silent and listening intently. "These rings are given to you today, the day before you graduate for a reason. Not all of you who go in will come out. Those of you who do come out, are required to bring your victim's ring with you. Failure to do so will result in your immediate death by the instructors. The rings will serve as proof that you have indeed performed your task successfully. You will be treated as a _real_ ninja whether you complete or fail in your task."

She raised a weathered hand and pointed to a pair of hastily set up desks with her long, thin fingers. "Those two men will distribute your rings. Line up in a double file line."

About as reluctantly as everyone else, Naruto followed the old woman's orders. There were roughly fifteen people per line, and Naruto stood in the middle of his. The line moved at a steady pace, and before long, Naruto stood in front of the dark haired distributor of the rings.

"Name?" he asked in a brusque voice.

"Namikaze Naruto."

The man's head slowly rose until his beady eyes met Naruto's. "Yes. Yes, you are. Give me your hand."

As Naruto brought his right hand up, the man took out a thin, black box from somewhere under the table. He carefully pried it open with his fingers, and turned it to face Naruto before opening the lid.

Thin and slightly luminescent, the ring was an object that could capture the eye in an instant. Its design was simple, but even Naruto couldn't argue that it looked anything but striking. Abstract patterns coiled around the entire outside of the ring, half-covering the otherwise onyx surface. They were a silver color but looked so close to white that Naruto couldn't help but find it ironic. What were the chances of a black and white colored ring going to a member of a clan whose colors happened to be those of the Yin and Yang symbol?

"Does everyone get the same ring?" Naruto asked as he examined the ring a little closer.

A half-scowl appeared on the man's face as he looked at Naruto's curious eyes. "Each clan has its own approved design given only to its members. Everyone else gets the standard model."

Naruto nodded to himself, ignoring the man's impatience. "So was this ring made specifically for me?"

The man answered with annoyance dripping from every word. "This ring was taken from the Hokage's personal vaults upon the time of your arrival. If I remember correctly, this is the same ring that your father wore before his…_untimely_ death."

Naruto froze in place for a few seconds before he managed to get his emotions under control.

"Is something wrong, Namikaze?"

That voice was beginning to grate at his nerves. If the dumb-shit hated his job so much, then he should quit and let someone better take his place.

"I just wasn't expecting you to say that," Naruto ground out.

"What were you expecting me to say?" he retorted as a small smirk settled on his face.

Forgetting anything about decency, Naruto narrowed his eyes in a full blown glare and spat out, "Is that all?"

The man took out a piece of paper with the number seventeen on it and placed it next to the box that held Naruto's ring. "Go to this gate number, and when you hear the signal, put on your ring and enter into the forest. The first nine people to leave the forest with an additional ring will be the victors. Once the ninth person returns, the gates will be locked and everyone left inside will be forced to survive until next year's exams or die."

Naruto gave the man a curt nod, took the piece of paper and the box that held his ring, and went to find the gate that he was supposed to enter.

'_They're playing games with you, Naruto. __Otousan would have never kept something this important from Osamu.'_

It hurt knowing that so many people were against him. He had spoken with two ninja today, and both of them had tried to screw him over. They were nothing like the civilians. They weren't as easily fooled, and would never extend their trust to him.

He clenched his eyes shut as emotions ran through him. One by one, he felt them race through his body, increasing his heartbeat and quickening his breathing. He let them take control of him for the entire walk, letting them act as they pleased. They danced inside him, sending jolts of sensation throughout his body that felt like little pinpricks against his skin. He relished the feeling of not having to act, but just being himself. In his mind, he was completely alone and isolated from society. The darkness around him blocked everyone and everything out, reminding him of his home in Tsuirakuha. Soon, he would meet up with people that he was familiar with.

He walked like that for a few minutes, knowing that he was somewhere near the gate, but not really caring.

Only when he spotted the black outline of the fence that surrounded the forest did Naruto start to calm down. One at a time, he reigned in his emotions pushed them into the back of his mind. Some, such as anger went away quickly because of his experience. Others such as hope and determination put up a fight. Naruto had to all but crush those before he could take control of them.

The imaginative boy, along with all of his hopes, dreams, and feelings was now gone, instead replaced by only a cold, uncaring shadow of what he once was.

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For those of you wondering, Naruto had a nervous breakdown in the first scene; however, there were no lasting effects yet to be shown. Something else happened in that scene, but I'll let all of you figure it out.

Akumu Yutori- means "Nightmare Room".

_**All Reviews are greatly appreciated.**_


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4-

Naruto heard a bell chime, and at the same time, the tall gate that he stood in front of swung open on its own. Naruto looked at the gate curiously for a few moments before shaking his head to get rid of the unnecessary thoughts. He was under a time limit now. The last thing he needed was a distraction.

He slowly walked into the forest and took a look around. The dark outlines of trees took up the majority of his vision. The stars glistened enough to provide some light, but it wasn't enough for Naruto to be completely comfortable. Whoever said that it was childish to be afraid of the dark?

Naruto took out the black ring box, opened it, and took out the ring that was inside. The ring was surprisingly light, and it glistened as it did when he first saw it. It was too dark to see anything so small, so Naruto decided to mainly rely on his sense of touch. He ran his fingers over the outside and felt the cool and smooth outlines of the metal against his skin. He did the same thing for the inside, feeling for anything that didn't belong, specifically any seals or traps that could hurt him. The only noteworthy discovery that he found was a small indentation of what he assumed was the hidden leaf symbol.

'_What's so special about you, little ring? I guess that I'm the one that has to find out.'_

Throwing caution aside, Naruto swiftly slid the ring onto his right ring finger and waited for some kind of reaction.

For a few seconds nothing happened, and for the barest of moments, his paranoia was sated. But a small tug on his chakra, so minuscule that he almost didn't feel it, brought his paranoia back, full force.

From there, the tug only grew stronger. At first, it felt as if the chakra from his finger was slowly being sucked towards the ring. That feeling increased until it covered his entire hand. The tingling feeling left his hand, only to be replaced by a slight itch, which was slowly turning into a burning sensation. It hurt enough that Naruto actually winced in pain.

And suddenly, it all stopped.

His aching hand was back to normal, and there were absolutely no traces of his previous pain. He brought his hand up to examine it, but found absolutely no abnormalities. Naruto felt alert and curious at the same time. It was a weird combination.

It didn't take long for Naruto to conclude that the ring had to go.

But when he tugged on it to take it off, it wouldn't budge. He pulled on it a second time and then a third, each time with increasing strength. But no matter how hard he tried, the ring stayed in the same exact place. It wouldn't even twist!

He sent a vicious glare at the ring before he took off towards the center of the forest.

He ran fast, much faster than he would normally feel comfortable going. He jumped from branch to branch, twisting and turning so that he never followed a designated path.

While he was traveling, he failed to notice that his eyes lost their azure color for an instant and instead became a deep, malevolent crimson.

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The Namikaze were about as good at assassination as the Uchiha were at ninjutsu and the Hyuuga at taijutsu; they were simply unmatched. They were well versed in all forms of the skill, with their abilities ranging from the use of poisons to the "Silent Killing" style that the Hidden Mist Village had adopted as its own. They made a name for themselves during the Second Shinobi War when the leader of the time, Namikaze Sadao, took the life of the Daimyo of what used to be Metal Country. When the Namikaze were still believed to be alive, their reputation was legendary in all parts of the Shinobi world.

Although not as skilled as Akio or Osamu, Naruto still had enough practice to carry out a successful assassination if the need arose. He knew the basics of the skill and was a master of the jutsu that created the foundation for most of the Namikaze's assassination techniques. Combined with the cover of the night and the element of surprise, even the most poorly played out murder attempts could work out in his favor.

He was leaning against a tree in what he assumed was the middle of the forest. He hoped that this would be one of the 'hotspots' in the exam. It was definitely foolish to assume that anyone would be dumb enough to actually go looking for targets in the center of the forest- it sounded typical, predictable, and maybe even cliché.

But Naruto wasn't betting the whole exam on someone else's stupidity (or daring). Instead, he was hoping that people would come for the same reason that he did- to sate their curiosity. Kids would always act like kids. No matter what, one or two idiots from the class would fall prey under their curiosity of the unknown and go on to explore the forest.

With his previous anger replaced with a burning anxiety in his chest and an abysmal sense of impatience, Naruto stood and listened for even the slightest of noises. He stood there, amidst the darkness for nearly half an hour. The sound of his quick breathing and the beating of his heart seemed to be the only noises in the entire forest. He couldn't see much of anything without the use of chakra, and even then things were still hazy at best. It was eerie and awkward at the same time.

A faint rustling of leaves, a few hundred paces away from him, ended up confirming his suspicions. Naruto froze, barely daring to breath, and brought all of his attention to the area where he heard the noise. Seconds later he heard the soft, nearly inaudible sound of footsteps coming closer and closer. He closed his eyes and tapped into his reserve of Yin chakra.

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Yin chakra was the complete opposite of Yang chakra (the one that every ninja used), hence the reason that the Namikaze clan symbol was the Yin and Yang sign. Each chakra counterbalanced its equal perfectly. If a person had a large supply of Yang chakra, their supply of Yin chakra would usually be below average. If a person's area of talent tended to lean towards taijutsu with Yang chakra (for example), then their Yin chakra would be more oriented towards the arts of ninjutsu or even genjutsu.

The only exception was that elemental affinities remained the same no matter what chakra was used. But the ways that those affinities could be used were fairly different. Yang Chakra tended to force the elements to do its users bidding. Yin chakra worked in such a way that it tried to become _one _with the element. Neither chakra was more effective than the other, as each had specific flaws and strengths.

When Yin chakra ran through a person's chakra coils, the person changed. Their beliefs, emotions, and their overall sense of what's right was completely twisted. The innocent could turn destructive and vice versa. It was terrifying knowing that the more Yin chakra you pulled out, the more you were changed on the inside. The change was never permanent and the user felt better once all of the Yin chakra left his chakra coils, but the feeling of acting like a completely different person hit some people pretty close to home.

What was even worse was the power of empathy that came along with the use of Yin chakra. Imagine someone else's emotions, bombarding against your mind, trying to take over. It's difficult enough trying to comprehend the feeling of your own emotions overreacting for apparently no reason. Then envision using the chakra in a room filled with people. You'd be lucky to get out with your sanity intact.

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Ice cold power flooded through his chakra coils, causing Naruto to take a sudden breath at the unexpected sensation. Naruto felt goose bumps run all over his body as more and more of the Yin chakra rushed through his body. An intense jolt of energy soon followed, nearly overwhelming the young ninja, before he finally managed to stop channeling the addicting chakra.

No drug, feeling, or emotion could ever come close to describing what he felt. He was in perfect harmony with his body, his chakra, and his surroundings. An impenetrable calm settled over his mind, granting him clarity beyond anything he had ever felt before.

Stark determination covered all of his thoughts like a blanket, leaving him with only one desire- he needed to get a ring.

He elegantly pushed off the tree that he was leaning on and walked towards the area where he first heard the noises from. His steps were swift and precise, making absolutely no noise in the muted clearing. His eyes, having become luminescent after his intake of Yin chakra, observed a boy with a slim body and an angular face with unnerving accuracy.

The boy was walking with a spring in his step, almost as if he was over-anxious. He kept to the shadows, obviously afraid of what would happen if he stepped into even the smallest bit of pale light. The boy moved his head back and forth, searching for anything out of place. It didn't take long for him to notice two brilliant azure orbs as they drew closer and closer to him.

Even in his extreme state of blissfulness Naruto could feel the vehement surprise as it nearly overrode the boy's senses. Naruto felt his own emotions attempt to mirror the boys own, but he reined them in before they could cause him any harm.

With fluid grace, he maneuvered his hands through three seals and felt the power inside of him awaken and beg to be released. A miniature cyclone made up of slow moving wind formed around him, just as he finished surrounding his body with Yin chakra.

Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated on the image of the area just behind the boys back. The slow winds of the cyclone struck against Naruto's body and went through it as if it was made up of nothing more than small specs of sand. As nothing more than a soft breeze, the wind traveled in the direction of the boy. The Academy student paid no heed to the wind, instead choosing to look for where the mysterious blue eyed boy disappeared to.

In seconds, Naruto reappeared behind the boy, in a second cyclone of wind, and immediately brought his bare hand to the Academy student's throat.

A primal fear awoke inside the boy, so strong that it nearly made Naruto lose control of himself for a few seconds. He suppressed the unwanted emotion with ruthless brutality, but ended up losing precious seconds in the process.

Naruto felt the fear coming from the boy change into determination as he felt, more than saw, the sharp steel of a kunai entering his midsection. Quick as lightning, Naruto grabbed the hand with the kunai, and gave it a sharp twist. The kunai, having only punctured his stomach about a centimeter at most, fell to the ground with a soft 'thud'.

A wet crack echoed throughout the clearing as Naruto broke the wrist of the boy who had stabbed him. With his other hand, he held a death grip on the boys throat, preventing him from screaming or even breathing.

"You know," Naruto whispered in an almost monotonous voice, "These rings on our hands won't come off, no matter how hard we may try. I think that they leech our chakra so that they can, in essence, become like a part of our physical bodies. Pulling that ring off will be exactly like pulling off your own finger- painful and excruciatingly difficult."

"Now, the way I see it, there are two ways of getting the ring off of a person's finger. The first way is to kill the target. This is what we were originally instructed to do, and it will most likely be what everyone does. The second way of getting that ring off your finger is more of a personal theory than anything else. By severing the limb, specifically the finger or the hand in general, the flow of chakra will stop flowing, and the ring will come of easily.

"Now, originally, I was going to kill you. It would have been fast, easy, and painless...for both of us. But seeing as you've stabbed me, I've decided to change my mind. So, do you feel like a guess about what I'm about to do to you?"

Naruto let go of the grip that he had on the boys throat (just in time too, as the kid was starting to turn purple), and pushed him forward with the hand that held the broken wrist. The kid stumbled forward and fell to his knees, all the while taking enormous breathes of air. The boy brought a shaking hand to his rapidly bruising throat and cradled his injured wrist to his stomach, all the while moving his head back and forth, looking for some sort of escape route.

Having picked up the kunai that he had been stabbed with, Naruto stared at the pitiful scene in morbid fascination. His wound hurt, but he didn't pay too much attention to it. He knew that the Kyuubi would heal it in no time. There would be repercussions for allowing the fox to heal him, but he would cross that bridge when he got there.

Deciding to make his move before the kid got ideas of running, Naruto crept behind him, brought up his kunai, and made an almost shallow cut across his throat. A thin line of blood immediately appeared on the boy's throat.

"You forgot that I was behind you," Naruto chided softly.

The boy tried to scream, but all that came out was a pitiful 'gurgle'. Naruto pushed some Yin chakra into the kunai in his hand, and the air around him was pulled towards the weapon. The air molded itself into a blade that resembled that of an ANBU issued short-sword.

Naruto threw a kick to the side of the boy's head which ended up temporarily stunning the wounded boy. Wasting no time, Naruto raised his kunai-slash-sword, and then brought it down with all of his strength.

The sound that followed sounded something like a knife going straight through a fruit. Even Naruto, in his current state couldn't help but wince in sympathy. Nevertheless, with the action completed, a severed hand lay a few inches away from the now hysterical student.

Naruto picked up the limb, decidedly ignoring the writhing body across from him, and stared at it for a few moments. Then, with an almost delicate motion, he placed his thumb and index finger on the ring and gave it a gentle tug. The ring slid off of the hand without creating any resistance at all.

An arrogant smile found its way onto Naruto's face. Now all he had to do was to get out of the forest.

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"What the fuck do you mean?! I went into that sick forest, I got stabbed, _and_ I killed, all for that bloody ring. It belongs to _me_, not you."

Furious brown eyes met his luminescent azure orbs in a silent battle for dominance. "If you had cared enough to listen to the rules, Namikaze-_sama_, you would have known that all of the spare rings that are brought out are immediately given to the examiners,"

"Screw the rules," Naruto said as he looked the lanky examiner up and down. "And I doubt that you'll do much in the way of stopping me."

The Chuunin (because no Genin or self-respecting Jounin would _ever _take a job like that) shot out of his chair and slammed his fists on the table that stood in front of him. "Who do you think you are?" he spluttered through his rage.

Naruto gave the man with a large scar across his nose a flat stare. "Namikaze-fucking-Naruto," he spat back just as viscously.

The young man looked as if he was about to explode (if the bright shade of red that his face was changing to was any indication). Spittle flew from his mouth and the sound of teeth being ground almost reached Naruto's ears. But Naruto found that the Chuunin's knuckles, which had turned an interesting shade of white in the matter of a few moments, the most interesting.

"So much for not making a scene," Naruto muttered under his breath as he waited for the impeding explosion with amusement dancing in his eyes.

The Chuunin opened his mouth, but immediately snapped it shut when a faint, frigid voice hit his ears.

"Enough."

Naruto nearly burst into a fit of laughter when he saw the Chuunin change from a psychotic examiner into a whimpering man in a matter of seconds. He tilted his head to the side to see where the person who held enough respect to shut someone up with just one word…And he nearly shat his pants.

There were some faces that could be recognized by just about anyone with even the scarcest knowledge of history. Their pictures were listed in Bingo books under the S-Rank, and their names were spoken with the highest respect. Their power was legendary.

Naruto met the gaze of the man that so closely resembled a snake, and held it for a moment. Those yellow, snake-like eyes were mesmerizing and horrifying at the same time. They bore into his own, so relentlessly that his breath actually hitched in his throat. He tried to look away, but found that he couldn't.

With his mind still exposed to Yin chakra, he felt the emotions from the people around him. He felt nothing coming from the man in front of him, yet that was to be expected from any experienced ninja. But when he gazed at the Sannin's eyes for more than a few moments, Naruto felt a strange tingling sensation in his eyes.

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People liked to say that the eyes were windows to the soul. They were right for all the wrong reasons.

A person's soul was modeled after their emotions, experiences, motivations, and the like. A person's beliefs, thoughts, and feelings all originated from the soul. It was an endless cycle that was responsible for making people who they were. One couldn't exist without the other. It was the concept Yin and Yang in a whole different sense.

There were times when someone's ambitions motivated them beyond reason. They were extremists, who would do _anything _to achieve their goals. Their souls mirrored their hopes and dreams so clearly that a properly trained person (specifically a Namikaze) could actually _feel _a part of the soul, through the five senses.

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Piercing screeches echoed throughout his mind with rising intensity. Men, women, children…Screams unlike any he had ever heard before. Their voices formed a melody that could have come from hell itself. Only a scornful, maniacal laugh, too high in pitch to be considered fully human, dominated over the screams. So painful was that sound, both physically and mentally, that Naruto nearly cried out in pain.

And all of a sudden, it stopped.

"If he wants to keep the ring, let him," Orochimaru said in a careless voice.

The connection broke, and Naruto found that he could finally take his eyes away from the terrifying shinobi. He immediately brought them back to face the examiner (who looked even paler than before). Naruto couldn't find the will to mock him anymore.

"Yes, of course, Orochimaru-sama," the frightened Chuunin mumbled out.

'_Fear so great that even his own allies are terrified of him.'_

Naruto turned his head back to Orochimaru, and bowed his head in genuine respect. "Orochimaru-sama," he muttered just loud enough to be heard.

Those yellow eyes somehow found their way to his own once again. "It has been over a decade since I've seen eyes like yours, Naruto-kun," he said, ignoring Naruto's greeting. It was only then that Naruto heard the heavy emphasis that Orochimaru put on the 'S' sound.

"So they can glow in the dark. There's nothing special about that, is there?"

Orochimaru's lips twisted upwards. "They're more of a representation of the power that is running through you at this very moment."

"If you knew what that 'power' can do to a person, you wouldn't be talking about it so casually," Naruto retorted with a touch of bitterness in his voice. Did the snake's eyes just darken, or did Naruto just imagine that?

"Topics such as these are always open to interpretation."

Orochimaru started walking towards him and Naruto, in turn, changed his posture to a more defensive position. If the Sannin noticed (which he most likely did), then he didn't comment.

"Danzou wanted to speak with you once you had returned from the exam."

"And you're here to escort me there?" Naruto asked, his voice oozing with sarcasm.

There was a short pause.

"Yes."

Orochimaru reached him and put an incredibly pale hand on his shoulder. Naruto barely resisted the urge to flinch. He felt a foreign chakra enter his body and swiftly twist through his coils, leaving behind a feeling of _filth_ in its wake. Naruto couldn't suppress the shiver that ran up his spine.

The ground around Naruto's feet softened as he felt himself get sucked into it. It was an odd sensation- the earth felt pleasantly cool and rigid against his skin. He felt himself sink lower and lower until not a single hair on his head remained. The ground where he had just stood was perfectly flawless, with absolutely no signs of anyone having just stood there.

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Naruto reappeared in a spacious room which looked decidedly _austere_. The floors were covered in hard, polished wood, the walls were a pristine white, and the furnishings all seemed to be unnaturally tidy. Two long lines of desks, one on each side, ran along nearly the entire length of the room. If Naruto had to venture a guess, he would have to say that there were roughly fifteen desks on each side. At the very end of the room stood a single, imperious desk that far outshined any of the others in the room. It was a rich, dark cherry color in contrast to the pale brown that all of the other desks were, and it curved slightly to form what almost looked like a semi-circle.

Danzou was sitting at the head of the fine desk with his attention on what looked like some sort of paper. He looked the same as he had the last time that Naruto had seen him, except that now he wore the hat that represented his status as a Kage.

After a short walk Naruto and Orochimaru arrived in front of the desk. Orochimaru wasted no time in sitting on one of the black, leather chairs that stood there. Naruto, after a short moment of internal debate, decided that it would be best if he waited until Danzou at least _acknowledged _his presence before he would sit.

After a few tense and awkward minutes of waiting in silence, Danzou finally looked up from what he was writing. He looked at Orochimaru, who seemed to be in his own little world, and then to Naruto with a grim look in his eyes. "Naruto-kun, I'm glad that you've passed the Genin exam- without a scratch on you at that," he said in that creepy, calm voice of his.

"I'm ecstatic that you care so much for my well-being, Danzou-sama," Naruto replied with what he hoped was masked sarcasm. "And besides, the exam wasn't all that difficult."

Danzou's eyes bored into Naruto's. "Your last comment would have meant much more if you hadn't resorted to using your bloodline."

Naruto suppressed a scowl from forming on his face, and decided to let those words go. He didn't want to get into a fight- the bastard suspected him enough as it was. "Why is it that you've called me here tonight Danzou-sama?" Naruto shot a surreptitious glance at Orochimaru. "And why did you send a Sannin as an escort?"

Danzou sat silently for a few moments, thinking about what he would say next. "The Genin exam is more than a way for Academy students to achieve the rank of Genin. As you may or may not have noticed, the exam was also being closely monitored by quite a few ninja of higher rank. They had two purposes- the first was to make sure that nobody…got out of hand, and the second was to scout out possible future students.

"Konoha long ago abandoned the system of placing three Genin on a team with only a single Jounin sensei to oversee their training. That system is flawed beyond reason. How can a single Jounin watch over all three of his or her students without unintentionally ignoring one in the process? Children need attention to grow and to unlock their full potential. They cannot do that when they only occupy a third of their teacher's attention! And even if a teacher could adequately teach his or her students, do you know what they are taught? Teamwork. What good is teamwork when there is a 2-in-3 chance of the team breaking up after the outcome of the Chuunin exam?"

Danzou continued in a clear, even tone, "So we ended up adopting a new system, one that involved apprenticeship. In an apprenticeship, the student cannot be ignored and will be taught everything that the teacher knows without any interruptions. Apprenticeships begin as soon as the Genin Exam ends. The ninja who were originally monitoring the exam are the ones who become the teachers. If there is a dispute about who will train a child, then the most qualified ninja will win the position- it will be up to the child to decide if he wants to have additional training. Apprenticeships last until a child is ready to become a Jounin. At that time, a mandatory two year term in the ANBU is required in order to hone the child's skills. Until that time, the student is under the care of the teacher unless one of the two dies or is injured beyond healing."

Naruto stood silently as he listened intently to what Danzou had to say. This wasn't exactly _common _knowledge that all foreigners knew. He had read little tidbits of information about Konoha's system of training and promoting its shinobi in the report that Osamu had given him. But that was nothing compared to what he had just heard. Well, he did come here to spy, and now he had some useful information under his belt. Information meant _safety_.

But a thought wouldn't stop nagging at Naruto._ 'Why?_ 'Why would Danzou give him so much information so quickly? He knew that Danzou still didn't trust him one bit. But then a clever thought popped into his head. _'Maybe the old man thinks that I'll relay this information to another village. If a hidden village suddenly starts to act differently towards Konoha or if it adopts some of Konoha's ideas, then Danzou will suspect that village of sending a spy in. Very clever, old man. Too bad I don't work for a hidden village.'_

"Isn't that…counter-productive? I have no idea how long you have had this Genin-exam in effect for, but at the current rate, you only gain 9 new Genin per year and you lose at least 20 in that forest. Is it really worth forcing nearly an entire generation worth of ninja to teach a few young kids?" Naruto questioned. He already had some good information, but why not push for more with some logical questions?

It seemed as if Danzou had frozen in his seat. A glazed look came over his eyes as he stared past Naruto. "No," he finally muttered under his breath. "Only those that were murdered remain in that forest." There was an edge in his voice that came from an emotion that Naruto could not identify.

The reaction was nearly as disturbing as the words that he used. Only the nine or so kids died in the forest? What did they do to the other twelve or so kids? It was worth looking into.

Naruto decided to voice another one of his questions."Don't the parents of the kids have any say in it? There's only a two…no one-in -three chance of their kids not coming out. I'd suspect that they would feel apprehensive about letting their kids in to the Academy with that knowledge."

"That question has absolutely nothing to do with anything related to you," Danzou answered automatically with a hint of animosity in his tone.

Another weird answer. It looked like the Hokage had some skeletons in his closet from the way that he reacted to those two questions. But Naruto was on thinner ice than ever before. Would he risk asking another…_daring_ question?

It wasn't worth it.

Instead he brought his right hand up, his knuckles facing Danzou, and asked something that had been bothering since the exam started. "What is this?" he asked calmly.

"That's a very, very special ring on your finger, Naruto-kun. It would be best for you to leave it alone and forget that it's even there."

"Osamu never told me anything about these rings, but when I got this ring, the examiner told me that it was once my father's. Either you or Osamu lied to me. I want to know what's going on."

The narrowing of his eyes proved to be the only outward sign that signified Danzou's anger. "Remember what I told you about that mouth of yours the last time that we met," Danzou scolded. "And since you are _so _keen on figuring out this little mystery, I will tell you this- those rings have been out for a long time. They came out around the time when your father was about to take the Jounin exam. He was fifteen at the time and was one of the first people to test the prototype."

Naruto felt…bitterness. Why would his own father, the legendary Yellow Flash, keep information away from Osamu? Weren't they both on the same side? But his father _had_ worked alongside Jiraiya in creating a counter-seal for the Branch House's Caged Bird Seal. As far as Naruto was concerned, Danzou had no reason to lie. Only one logical conclusion could be made by Naruto.

His father had played both sides.

But why? What could he have possibly gained? Better yet, what motives could have driven him to work together with an enemy?

'_Food for thought_,' Naruto thought gloomily.

"Enough of this," Danzou said suddenly, "We've wasted enough time with your pointless questions, and have avoided the real reason for why I have summoned you. Do you remember what I've told you about apprenticeship?" Upon seeing Naruto's nod, he continued, "One man has made an offer to train you and it by far outshines all others."

Naruto shot Danzou a quizzical look. _'I thought everyone here hated me.'_

Danzou stood up with a serious look on his face. Naruto heard a soft shuffling of clothes to his right and saw that Orochimaru had also stood up. He was so caught up in his conversation with Danzou that he nearly forgot about the snake. One quick glance at those serpentine eyes made Naruto swear to himself that he wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

A cold feeling of dread slowly crept up Naruto's spine and his heart started to beat significantly faster.

Something wasn't right.

'_A Sannin escort.'_

'_Apprenticeship.'_

'_Teacher and student.'_

'_There are only two other people in the room…'_

Danzou started speaking, but Naruto was too distracted to notice.

'_They wouldn't do this to me, they couldn't! He can't be this paranoid…'_

'_I'm just a kid; Osamu _forced _me to do this. I don't_ _want anything to do with Konoha.'_

'_I don't want any of this, I don't want to be here, and I don't want to hear this…'_

'_WHY CAN'T ALL OF YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE?!'_

Naruto's attention snapped to Danzou as one of the scariest moments of his life played itself in front of his life. Danzou's mouth opened as if in slow motion. His lips moved with leisurely precision, almost as if they were mocking him.

Naruto wanted to rip them off that disgusting face.

And then the voice came. It was calm, smooth, defined- like water running down a river. It grated on his nerves like nothing else. He would never forget it. He wouldn't be able to sleep without that voice invading his dreams.

The words came last and they were the very worst. Each word that came out of Danzou's mouth felt as if it clawed its through his ears and into his brain. A razor sharp pain erupted in his head as he just barely made out the last few words that left Danzou's mouth.

"-and it is with great pleasure that I declare Namikaze Naruto as the apprentice of the Snake Sannin Orochimaru."

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He had never drank alcohol before. He was young and stupid, but he had never had the need to actually drink before. Naruto had never even thought of doing it before. It had never even been that big of a deal. Plus, he never liked the effects that alcohol had on people. Hangovers? Throwing-up? Dizziness? No thanks. He'd rather prank one of the Branch House Hyuuga and wake up the next morning with the same symptoms.

But there he was, sitting in an all night bar, under a Henge that made him look six years older than he actually was. It was nearing midnight and he felt like shit. He threw up two times in the last hour, but since he hadn't eaten anything the entire day, almost nothing came out. His head felt as if someone had just drilled a hole in his skull, and his hands, for some reason, just wouldn't stop shaking.

And he didn't have a single drop of alcohol in his system.

He singled for the bartender and ordered a glass of sake. The bartender, a fifty year old man with tan skin, brown eyes, and fine, black hair, gave him a look that said, _'You shouldn't even be here.'_

A cruel scowl formed on Naruto's face as he glared into the eyes of the bartender. "I ordered some sake, old man," Naruto repeated through clenched teeth. The bartender nodded his head slowly before he went to get Naruto's order. Naruto followed the man's movements with his eyes until he placed the sake in front of him.

Naruto sighed and put his head in his hands.

The spy network in Konoha was secretive, mysterious, and guarded as if it was an S-class secret. It was arranged in such a way that not even Naruto knew much about its members or its activities. Naruto had to admit that even though the lack of information was frustrating, the protection that he was granted was well worth being left in the dark. If a spy was captured or decided to rat out the Shinninha, then he wouldn't be able to give up any worthwhile information. At the very most, a spy knew of three other people who they could relay their information to.

The bartender, a man who went by the name Saihitsu Tetsuo, was one of the people that Naruto was to report to. He wasn't the foreman who was supposed to be the first person that Naruto reported to, nor was he the 'second-in-command' who took charge if anything happened to the foreman. Tetsuo was the guy that Naruto had to report to if everything went straight to hell.

There were strict rules put in place by Osamu that stated that the chain-of-command was to be followed no matter what. He made it quite clear that anyone found not following the rules would be severely punished.

Despite his grievous mood, Naruto couldn't help but crack a smile.

He just spat in the face of authority. Again.

Akio would have laughed.

Naruto picked up his cup of sake and spun it in a circle so that the alcohol created a small whirlpool. He closed his eyes, brought the cup to his lips, and downed it in one gulp. The alcohol ran down his throat and made its way to his stomach, leaving behind a trail of fire wherever it went. His throat was the worst though, as it felt as if it was tightening up and burning at the same time. Naruto sat dumbfounded for a few seconds before a violent coughing fit overtook him. It lasted for a few seconds before stopping.

"You alright there?" A low voice interjected. Naruto looked up and met the brown eyes of Tetsuo. There was a glint of _something _in those eyes, almost like pity. Perhaps it was understanding? The look was gone before Naruto could look any further into it.

"Just a long night," Naruto responded just as softly.

The old man nodded his head let out a callous laugh. "I know what you mean," he said more to himself than to Naruto. There was a moment of peaceful silence between the two spies as they both collected their thoughts.

Tetsuo was the one who broke the silence. "But it gets better, maybe even easier as time goes by. You shouldn't worry about it too much. I've worked as a bartender for the past decade, and I can tell you right now that not even my worst day in the past nine years could compare to my best day when I first started. You just have to remember to always stay calm and cover all of your tracks. _No one_ can touch you then."

Naruto looked at Tetsuo with wide eyes. "Thanks," he blurted out, not knowing what else to say. It was strange, maybe even a little comforting to hear some words of reassurance for the first time in almost a weak. He shuddered when he realized just how detached from the world he had become in such a short time. Had he forgotten about the emotions that he had craved in Tsuirakuha when he adopted the persona of the last surviving Namikaze?

This mission was killing him, physically as well as mentally.

"Would you like some more sake, Shinobi-san?" Tetsuo asked as he looked over the occupants of the room, checking to see if their orders were fulfilled as well as looking for any unwanted faces.

The question snapped Naruto out of his thoughts and he was forced to make a hasty reply. "No, I think I've had enough for tonight."

Naruto took out his wallet and looked inside. There were a lot of bills inside, most of which were given to him by Danzou a few days ago in order for him to get 'started' in Konoha. Between two particular bills lay a thin, folded piece of paper with a seal on one of its sides. Naruto took out the bills that were between the piece of paper, purposefully keeping them together so as to hide the presence of the paper, and handed them to Tetsuo. The old man took them and counted them under his counter. With a satisfactory nod, he smiled at Naruto and said, "Remember my advice."

With a parting nod, Naruto quickly walked out of the bar, dropped his Henge, and made his way towards his apartment with the slightest sway in his step.

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Naruto arrived at his apartment to find that it was perfectly clean. There were no blood stains on the floor, the bathroom was surprisingly clean, and all of his clothes were folded neatly in his closet.

He shook his head in disappointment. Not even his own home was safe.

He took a seat on the edge of his bed and rubbed his tired eyes.

He had Yin chakra running through his body for the entire night and he was absolutely exhausted. He had just barely managed to get it under control after the Genin exam ended and had a constant flow enter his chakra coils since then. His Yin chakra reserve wasn't nearly as large as he would have liked, but it had served its purpose.

After the disaster during the Genin exam, he knew that he wouldn't act reasonably and would be overrun with unwanted emotions during his meeting with Danzou. After the revelation that he would be Orochimaru's apprentice was made, he knew that only his Yin chakra had saved him from slipping up somehow. He always had just enough running through him to block, or at the very least _dull_, the emotions of what he would normally feel.

Then there was the fact that there was some of the Kyuubi's chakra running through him. The bloody fox didn't understand that its chakra was _poisonous_ to him. His Yin chakra would have healed his stomach wound up perfectly well, but no, the damned demon just had to interfere. The fox's chakra was one of the main reasons why he threw up at all.

But now his reserves were close to empty, and he needed to stop channeling the energy lest he fall into unconsciousness. That wasn't something that he was looking forward to doing.

He took a shaky breath and willed the Yin chakra back into the depths of his soul.

A plethora of emotions erupted inside of him, sending him into a trance. He didn't move, didn't feel, and didn't think; he just _saw_. Everything that happened in the past few hours played through his mind, over and over. It was as if the memories were burned into his mind. He would never be able to forget, ignore, or disregard what happened tonight.

He had never felt so worthless in his life.

He let go of what little control he had over his body and fell on his back. He stared at the blank ceiling with glazed eyes. With a numb hand, he took out the ring that he took off of the boy's severed hand and stared at it.

The weak light from his lamp made the ring look darker than it really was, but otherwise it looked completely ordinary. It was thin and silver, with no visible markings on the inside or outside. It was smooth to the touch and was more than just a little cold.

He played with it in his hands, letting it snake around his fingers and moving it from hand to hand.

His heartbeat started to race and his pupils became dilated. His breathing quickened to the point that his lungs began to ache. In a sudden flash of fury, he threw the ring into the wall opposite of him. A soft 'clank' echoed throughout his room when the ring hit the wall.

The nausea from earlier returned full force, and he felt the contents of his stomach begin to find their way towards his mouth. He had only a seconds notice to roll over before his stomach gave a mighty heave and the sake from earlier left his mouth in a violent torrent. There was some residue vomit left in his mouth which left behind disgusting taste, but he was too tired to care.

His eyes, having a dazed look in them, began to close slowly, and he did nothing to stop them. Soon, there was darkness all around him, and with nothing else to do, he embraced it. He ended up falling into a restless sleep plagued with nightmares about Danzou, Osamu, and Orochimaru.

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If you hadn't realized yet, Naruto's bloodline is the ability to draw upon the Yin chakra that resides in his soul. The Namikaze are the only ones that have this ability, as most other ninja have the ability to only draw upon Yang chakra (the normal, everyday chakra from Canon). While on the topic of Yin chakra, I have decided that the Kyuubi's power will only run through Naruto in the form of Yin chakra. If I had it any other way, then Naruto would be _way_ too powerful, and I would have difficulty moving the plot along. In this case, I have the excuse that Naruto can't use a lot of the Kyuubi's power without it poisoning him in return.

_**All Reviews are greatly appreciated.**_


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